The mountain sentinel. (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1844-1853, April 18, 1850, Image 1

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    M 1
" .
II II -II III I
-x - III III
II 4
.10
'WE OO WHERE DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES POINT THE WAY JWHEM THBY CEASE TO LIAD, VI CEASE TO FOLLOW.'
BY JOHN G. GIVEN.
EBENSBUIiG, THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1830 '.
Vol. g. no. 2s.
-- -
ISZSO EI LA XT 22 O US
JOHN TAYLOR.
THE
TiMQMOF; THE BACKWOODS BAR AND PCLilT.
CMAS. SCMMERFlKLD.
- I caH never forget my first vision; of
John Taylor. It was in the court house
at Lewisburg, Conway co. Arkansas, in
the summer of 1838.
The occassion itself possessed terrible
interest. A vast concourse of spectators
had assembled to witness the trial of a
young and very beautiful girl, on an indict
ment for murder. The Judge waited at
the moment for the sheriff to bring in his
prisoner the eyes of - the impatient multi
tude all ccntered'on the door; when sud
denly a stranger entered, whose appear
ance rivited. universal attention. . .
Here is his portrait! a figure, tall, lean,
sinewy and strait as an arrow; a face, sal
low., bilious, and twitching incessantly
with nervous irritability; a brow, broad,
soaring, massive, seamed with wrinkles,
but not from age for he was scarcely for
ty; eyes, reddish yellow, like the wrathful
eagle, as bright and piercing; and finally,
a mouth with lips of cast iron, thin curled
cold and sneering, the intense expression
of which looked the living embodiment of
an unbreathed curse. - He was habited in
a suit of new buck-skin, ornamented after
the fashion of Indian costume, with hues
of every color of the rainbow.
Elbowing his way slowly through the
crowd, and apparently unconscious that he
was regarded as a phenomenon, needing
explanation, this singular-being advanced,
and with the haughty air of a king ascend
ing the throne, seated himself within the
bar, thronged as it was with disciples of
Coke and lllackstone, several of whom, it
was known, esteemed themselves as far
superior to those old and- famous. masters.
The-contrast between the outlandish
garb and disdaiuful countenance of the
itranger, excited, especially, the risibility
of the lawyers; and the junior members
began a suppressed titter, whichgrew lou
der, and soon swept around the circle.
They doubtless supposed the ; intruder to
be some wild hunter of the mountains,
who had never, before seen the interior of
a hall of justice. Instantly, the cause and
object of the laughter perceived it; turned
hisjhead gradually, so as to give each
laugher a look; his lips curled with a kil
ling smile of , infinite scorn; his yellow
eyes shot arrows of lightning; his tongue
protruding .through his teeth literally
writhed like a. serpent,.and ejaculated its
asp-like poison in a single word: "Sava
ges!' ,No pen cau can describe the defi
ant force which he threw into that term,
no pencil ean paint the infernal furor of
his utterance, although it hardly exceeded
a whisper. .But he accented every letter
as if it Were a separate emission of fire that
scorched his quivering lips; laying horrible
emphasis on S, both at the beginning and
end of the word: "Savages!"
It was the growl of a red tiger in the
hiss of a rattlesnake.
- "Savages!".,
The general gaze, however, was imme
diately diverted by the advent of the fair
prisoner, who then camo in, surrounded
by her guard. Theapparition was enough
to drive a saint mad. For hers was a
style of beauty to bewilder the tamest
imagination, and melt the coldest heart,
leaving in both imagination and a heart
gleaming picture, enameled in fire and fix
ed in in a frame of gold from thq stars.
It was the spell of an enchartment to be
fellas wellis seen.' You might feci it in
the flashes of her countenance, clear as a
eumbeam, brilliant as the iris; in the 'con
tour of her features symmetrical as if cut
y the chisel of an artist; in her hair of
rich auburn ringlets' flowing without a
bnid, softer than silk' finer than i gossamer;
in the eyes,. blue as the heaven of souther
summer, large,-liquid, beamy; in her mo
tions, graceful, swimming, like the gentle
aftures of a bird's wing .in the sunny air;
in the Agere, slight, etherial a sylph's or
R seraph's; and more than all, in the ever
lasting smile of the rosy lips, so arched, so
serene, so like starlight, and yet possess
ing the power of rriagic or of magnatism to
thrill the beholder's heart.
As the uufortunate girl, so tastefully
dressed, so incomparable - as to personal
tharms, calm mid smiling,; took her place
beforo the bar of her judge, a murmur of
admiration arose from -the1 multitude,
"which, the prompt interposition of the
court, by a stern order of 'Silence," could
fcarcely repress from swelling to adeafen
ng cheer.; !? : " ' .- .;
The judge turned to the prisoner; "Em
Miner, the court has ;been informed
that your counsel, Col. Linton is sick, have
you employed any other?" "
I She answered in a voice sweet as the
garble of the nightingale, arid clear as
song of the sky-lark-. "My enemies
have bribed all the lawyers even my own
to be sick j but God will defend the inno
cent!" .' - " ;
At this reponse, so touching in its sim
ple pathos; a portion of the auditors buzz
ed applause, and the rest wept.
On the instant, however, the stranger,
whose appearance had previously excited
such merriment, started " to his feet, ap
proached the prisoner, and whispered
something in her ear. She bounded six
inches from the floor, uttered a piercing
shriek, and then stood trembling as if in
the presence of a ghost from Eternity;
while the singular being, who had - caused
her unaccountable emotion addressed the
court in his sharp ringing voice," sonorous
as the sound of bell-metal
"May it please your honor, I will as
sume tha task of defending the lady."
" What!" exclaimed the astonished judge
"are you a licensed attorney?"
"The question is irrelevant and imma
terial," replied the stranger with a vene
mous sneer, "as the recent statute entitles
any person to act as counsel at the request
of a party." -
"But does the prisoner request it?" in
quired the judge. ;
"Let her speak for herself." said the
stranger. ' '
"I do," was the answer as a long drawn
sigh escaped, that seemed to rend her very
heart strings.' ,J " ;;
The case immediately progressed; and
as it had a tinge of romantic mystery, we
will epitomise the substance of the evi
dence. ' .
About ttrelve months before, the delcil
daat had arrived in the village, and opened
an establishment of milinary. Residing
in a room connected with her shop, and
all alone; sh prepared the articles of her
trade, with unwearied labor and consum
mate taste. Her habits were secluded,
modest and retiring; and hence she might
have hoped to avoid notoriety, but for the
perilous gift of that extraordinary beauty,
which too often, and to th'e poor and
friendless always, proves a "curse. She
was sought after by all those glittering
fire-flies of fashion, the profession of
whose life, every where, is seduction and
ruin. But the beautiful stranger rejected
them all with unutterable scorn and loath
ing. Aruong these rejected admirers was
one of a character from which the fair mil
liner had every thing to. fear. Hiram
Shore belonged to a family', at once, opu
lent, influential and dissipated. He was
himself licentious, . brave and ferociously
revengeful the most famous duellist of
the South-west. It was generally known
that had made advances to win the favor
of the lovely Emma, .and had shared
the fate of all other wooers a disdainful
repulse.
At nine o'clock on Christmas night,
1837, the people of Lewisburg were star
tled by a loud scream, as of one in mortal
terror, while,' following that, with scarcely
an interval, came .successive-reports of
fire arms, one, two, three; a dozen deaf
ening roars. They flew to the shop of the
milliner, , whence the sounds proceeded;
pushed back the unfastened door, and a
scene of horror was presented. There
she stood in the centre of the room, with
a revolver. in each hand, every barrel dis
charged, her features pale, her eyes flash
ing wildly, but her lips parted with a fear
ful smile. And there at her feet, welter
ing in his warm blood, his bosom literally
11 1 . 11 , a . 111' 11
riuuieu wiiu Dunets, lay tne an-ureau du
ellist, Hiram Shore, ! gasping in the last
agony. He articulated but a single sen
tence: 'Teir my mother that I am 'dead
and gone to hell!" and instantly expired.
. "In the name of God, who did this?"
exclaimed the appalled spectators." : '...!,
"I did it," said the beautiful milliner,
"I did it to save my honor."
As may be readily imagined, the deed
caused an intense sensation. ;, Public
opinion, however, was divided.: The
poorer classes, crediting the giil'sverison
of the facts, lauded her heroism in terms
of measureless eulogy. But the friends
of the deceased, and of Vis wealthy fami
ly, gave a different and darker coloring to
the affair, and denounced the lovely hom
icide as an atrocious criminal. . Unfortu
nately for her, the officers of the law,
especially, the judge and sheriff, were de
voledcomrades of the slain, and displayed
their feelings in. a revolting partiality.
The judge committed her without the pri
vilege of bail, and the sheriff chained her
in the felon's dungeon!
" Such is a brief abstract of the circum
stances developed. in the examination of
wt,tnessess. " The testimony 'closed and
the pleading began.
' Firstof aH.lhree- advocates spoke in
succession for the. prosecution; but neither
their names nor their arguments are worth
preserving.1 Orators of the blood and
thunder gehiis, they about equally parti
tioned their howling eloquence betwixt
the prisoner and her leather-robed counsel,
as if in doubt who of the twain was then
on trial. A' for the stranger, ht pecracd
not to pay the slightest attention to his" j
opponents, but remained motionless, with
his forehead bowed on his hands, like one
buried in deep thought or slumber, ;
When the proper time came, however,
he suddenly sprang to his feet, crossed
the bar,, aud took his position almost
touching" the jury. He then commenced
in a: whisper, but it was a whisper so
wild, so clear, so unutterably ringing and
distinct, as to fill the hail from floor to
galleries. At the outset, he dealt in pure
logic, separating ;and combining the pro
ven facts, till the whole mass of confused
evidence looked transparent as a globe of
glass, through which the innocence of his
client shone, brilliant as a sunbeam; and
the jurors nodded to each other signs of
thorough conviction: that thrilling whis
per, and fixed concentration, and the lan
guage, simple as a child's, had com inced
all.
He then changed his posture, so a3 to
sweep the bar with his glance; and began
to tear and rend his legal adversaries. His
sallow face glowed as a heated furnace;
his eyes resembled living coals; and his
voice became the clangor of a trumpet. I
have never,, before .or since,', listened to
such murderous denunciations. . It was
like Jove's eagle charinr a flock of
crows; it was like Jove himself hurling
red-hot thunderbolts among the quaking
ranks of a conspiracy, of i inferior godsi
And yet, in the highest tempest of his fu
ry, he seemed calm; he employed no ges
ture save one the 'flash of .a long, bony
lore-finger direct in the eyes of his loes.
He painted their .venality and unmanly
meanness, in coalescing for mouey, to
hunt down a poor and friendless woman,
till a. shout of stilled rage .'arose from the
multitude, and e ven some r of the jury
cried, "Shame!" ;
lie changed his theme once more. His
voice , grew mournful as a funeral song,
and his eyes tilled with tears, as he traced
a vivid picture of man's cruelties and wo
man's wrongs, with particular illustrations
in the case of his client; till, one half of
the audience wept like children. But it
was in the peroration that he reached his
zenith, at once, of terror and sublimity.
His features were livid as those of a corpse;
his . very hair appeared to stand oa end;
his nerves shook as with a palsy; he toss
ed his hands. wildly towards heaven, each
finder stretched apart and quivering like
the flame of a candle, as he closed with
the last words of the deeased Hiram Shore:
"Tell my mother that I am dead and gone
to hell!". His emphasis on the word hell
embodied the acme and ideal of all horror
it was a wail of immeasurable despair.
No language can depict the effect on us
who heard it. Men groaned; females
screamed, and one 'poor mother fainted,
and was borne away in convulsions.
The whole speech ' occupied but an
hour.
The jury rendered a verdict of "Not
Guilty," without leaving the box; and
three cheers like successive roars of an
earthquake, shook the old court house
from the dome to the corner-stone, testi
fying the joy of the people.
After the adjournmentwhich occurred
near sunset, the triumphant advocale arose
and give out an appointment; "I 'will
preach in this hall to-night at 8 o'clock."
He then glided off through the crowd,
speaking to no one, though many attempt
ed to draw him into conversation.
At 8 o'clock the Court House .was
again througed, and the . stranger, accord
ing to promise, delivered his sermon. It
evinced the same attributes as his previous
eloquence of the bar; the same compact
logic, the same burning vehemence, and
increased bitterness of denunciation. In
deed misanthropy, revealed itself as the
prominent emotion! The discourse was
a tirade. against infidels, in which class the
preacher seemed to include every body
but himself;, it was a picture of ! hell,' such
as "-Lucifer might have, drawn, . with a
world in flames for his pencil. ,
But one paragraph pointed to heaven,
and that only demonstrated '.the utter im
possibility that any. human being should
ever get there.- Great IFest.
n3" A young , man recently having suc
ceeded, after persuasion, in getting a kiss
out of a girl went and told of it. One of
her acquaintances met her, and said- 'So,
Sally, John says that you let him kiss
you?' .'I did let him after he had teased
me an . hour, , but it was a tight squeeze
even then.'
'So ho!' exclaimed the other 'he did
not mention that. He only spoke of the
kiss, but did not say anything about the
squeeze." : ' .'.'" '
"What can a man do," asked a
'un yesterday, "when the sheriff is seen
coming up to him with a writ in his hand?'
"Apply the remedy," said another one
gruflly. "Remedy! what kind of a reme
dy?" ee-ingVemedy, you gooserun"
like a quarter horse.'
A Landlord Gratified. .
A Yankee but whether he was a tra
der or not I can't aay-stooped at a tav
ern, 'away up north' in the Stale of New
York, called for 'fixins, and after swal
owing a pretty considerable bill, retired.
Meanwhile the landlord and interlopers
were busily engaged in conversation..
By and by, Yankess and Yankee tricks
were discussed. The landlord informed
the bar-room company there was a live
Yankee in the house, and lftwere possi
ble he would have a trick or two out of
hnn before he left, while the aforsaid
hangers-on were to be witnesses. Af
ter -pleasant smile,' all round, at the land
lord's expense, they lft.
Next morning landlord and company
were ready to snap at Mr. Yankee, as
soon as he made his appearance. Break
fast being over, in walks Jonathan, with
an air peculiar to folks 'deoun east, paid
his bill, and was to depart, when the land
lord accosted him withr
"You it is plain to see, sir, are a Yan
kee. Can or will You oblige us with a
trick or two, for I assure you we are wil
ling, to. be tricked if you can do it."
'Wall, donno about that. Hev done
a few in my timet but donno as I km dew
anything, smart this mcrnin."
"Oh do. Lets have a trick," cried the
eager crowd.
"Wall, seein it's you I'll dew it jest
to pleas yer; but I swow, you mustn't git
mad." ...
"Oh no, net at all" says the landlord.
"I'll go his security," chimed old rum
nose. '. ; ; '
. reckon," says Jonathan, "yew sell
a prodigioussight of liquor in these parts,
and good tew. Yeou've a pipe of wine
down cellor, eh?" :
"Oh, rale stuff", too, I can tell you."
'Wall," says Jonathan, "come along,
all yeou that want to behold the mirical
performed; aud down they went into the
cellar. .The said pipe was pointed out.
"Neow," says the Yankee, "gentlemen,
yew see that pipe of wine, dew yeou? A
nod of assent went the rounds of the
crowd. "Wall, neow, I can take brandy
out of one end, and gin out of t'other."
-c..i)0 jt anc y0U catl jajjg my. head fcr
a football," exclaimed the landlord. .
Jonathan coolly drew from his pocket a
lare jrimlet, and bored a hole in one end
of the pipe, which hole the landlord was
requested to cover with his thnmb. He
did so,' and soon a hole was bored in "loth
er end" Jonathan kept a sober phiz du
ring the operation, and requested the land -lord
to stop up tother while he went after
somthin'to put the derned stuff in. The
landlord complied with his request, and
stretched acoss the pipe'resembling'a man-o-warV
man about to receive a dozen with
the ' cat." Jonathan meanwhile decamp
ed, he did. The landlord's back began to
ache, and he began to think the Yankee
was a longtime getting vials to put the
liquor in. Scon the vials of his wrath be
gan to boil over, and words too deep for
human ears were struggling for utter
ance, and he holding on endeavored to
keep the wine from leaking out. Soon
the hoax began to leak from the outsiders.
By and by, one gave a laugh, and guess
ed the landlord was done a leetle the
brownest of anything he'd ever seen; and
then did'nt the walls of the old cellar rinjr
ag.iin with bursts of laughter: Well, they
did.
' The landlord raved and swore almost
no, he was a deacon in the church!
And at last he broke forth with "Dog my
eternal cats, if I hain't been tricked by
the confounded Yankee." He tried to
get some one of the crowd to supply his
place, but old rumnose never let a jrood
opportunity slip; he thought it would be
well, inasmuch as the landlord had allow
ed himself to ce tricked by Mr. Yankee
Doodle, that he (tiie landlord) should treat
all hands, which having promised faith
fully to do, they released the landlord
from his tiresome position niter losing his
patience and some of his wine.
EThere was a man once imprisoned
in a very high tower, and how do you
suppose he got down? : ' By his hair' It
had grown. long during the captivity; he
cut it off, and uniting one hair with anoth
er by a little knot, he let down the gossa
mer line into the ditch : of the tower,
where a friend of his tied a fine silken
end to it. He drew it up, and to the end
of the silk was tied a threadJ to the thread
a . piece of twine and finally a good strong
rope, by means of which he finally reach
ed the ground. . i . : 1 ; ;
GTThey have some Mall' specimens of
mosquitoes in California, and Iheir suc
tion power3 are enormous. They are
said to be so strong-lirnbed, too, that one
will take hold of your bed blanket in his
teeth at night, and raise it up, so that anX
, other may creep under and bite. Fever-'nnd-arae
'ain't a circunit3llce.,,
Laic from Mexico.
Correspondence of the Pcnn$ylt anion.
Murder of a U. A- Officer at Mazatlin.
U. S. Ship Falmouth, 7
Mazatlin, March 8, 1830. J
I sit down to give you a hasty : sketch
of a most deplorable circumstance that
occurred a few days since At about 1
o'clock on the morning of the 5th inst.,
Lieut. White and a party of officers came
on board, bringing with them the dead
body of Midshipman Blucher H. Tabb,
who was most foully murdered about half
past eleven of the same night. Poor boy,
he had just returned from a concert, full
of bright dreams and gay projects, and
with several other officers was waiting on
the Mole for a boat to return to the ship,
when a fight occurred some distance from
them, between some persons unknown. It
is supposed he was attracted by the noise
of the quarrel, and curiosity led him to
the scene of conflict. The struggle lasted
but a few moments, and all the parties
were seen to run. The youngster was
no doubt close to the combatants, became
frightened, aud endeavored to fly to his
friends; but alas! he was destined never to
sec them. He was overtaken, surrounded
by a party of four or fivetlastardly scoun
drels, armed to the teeth, who in spite of
his neing a perfect boy, and totally inca.
pable of defending himself, most inhuman
ly put him to death. God! that such mon
sters should be permitted to roam the
earth, and a bright boy like that, with his
promise and noble aspirations, should be
cut off in the spring-tide of his youth,
seems almost incredible. That men, pos
sessing one spark of humanity, could even
in a moment of the most delirious excite
ment, be guilty of so base, so cowardly,
so atrocious a deed, appears to me impos-
I sible. After the fight had terminated, one
j party of officers who were eye witnesses
of the difficult)', started up the Mole to
i procure a liii'it for their segars, when one
of them accidentally stumbled upon the
body of the unfortunate boy he was
quite a lad, only a little over fifteen, and
by his joyous disposition, manly conduct,
aud generous heart, has endeared himself
ro all on board. When the news reached
the ship the excitement was iniense; and
if the opportunity offers, his death will be
most signally avenged. The next day,
we, in company' with tho officers of the
British frigate "Inconstant," followed his
remains to the "grave. May they rest in
peace. " I have no heart to write more.
Scenery on llic Cliagrcs Hirer.
There is nothing m this world compar
able to these forests. No description that
I have ever read, conveys an iCea of the
splendid overplus of vegetable life within
the tropics. The river broad, and with a
swift current of the sweetest water I ever
diank, winds between the walls of foliage
! that rise from its very surface. All the
Cfonreous sTOwxas 01 an cicruai summer
are so mingled in their impenetrable mass
that the eye is now bewildered. From
the rank jungle of canes and gigantic lil
lies, and the thickets of strange shrnbs
that line the waters, rise the trunks of the
mango, the celba, the cocoa, the sycamore
and the superb palm. The zapote, with
a fruit the size of a man's handthe
gourd tree, and other vegetable wonders
attract the eye on all sides. Blossoms of
crimson purple and you, of a form and
magnitude unknown in the north, are
mingled with the leaves, and flocks of
paroquetts, and brilliant butterflies circle
through the air like blossoms blown
away. Sometimes ? spike of scarlet flow
ers is thrust forth like the tonguei of a
serpent, from the head of fume convolu-.
tion of unfolding leaves, ami sometimes
the creepers and parasites, drop tails and
streamers of fragrance from boughs that
shoot half way across the river.' Every
' turn of the stream only discloses another
anu more magnificent vista ot Jeal, bougn
and blossom. ; All sight of the landscape
is lost under this deluge of vegetation.
No trace of the soil is to be seed; lowland
and highland are the same;' a mountain is
but a high swell of the mass of verdure.
As'on the ocean you. have a sense rather
than a perception of beauty. The sharp
clear lines of our scenerv at home are
wanting.
What sh
ape the. land would be
mot tell.' You craze
ll cleared, vou cannot
upon the scene before you with a never
sjicd delight till your brain aches with
the sensation, and you close your eyes,
over-whelmed with the thougnt t that all
these wonacrs have been from, the begin-
! ning that year after year takes away no
j blossom that is not. replaced, but that the
sublime mystery of growth and decay is
renewed forever. , Jiayard Taylor.
The Tabacco Crop in Missouri :s very
large this year.: They have- invented a
new plug, which they call the "Bentonian
twist.. r ItTis' said to be ,3 jjuzzle to
chewcrs. ;
Tiro? (lies swiftly.
Socicly in California. -An
intelligent correspondent cf the
Journal of Commerce, fives the following
picture of the California Society : .";
"This mining business rusts a man
wonderfully and yet I findraore literary
men engaged in it than of any other class.
In fact tho mines aro well stocked with
laivyers, doctors and schoolmasters. Tho
first of these have little in their calling to
attend to tho second plenty Gf physic
ing, but no pay the third undoubtedly
find golddiginga much "mora agreeable
occupation than ramming ideas into thick
skulls, or belaboring the unfeeling backs
of stubborn urchins. Of ministers tho
number is not a great deal, nor the de
mand every effort here to get . up Sab
bath meetings has failed. The besl v
can do is to hold a prayer or conference
meeting among 3, 5, G or more professing
christians of different denominations. Tho
ravines are from 1 to G miles apart, with
high hilli intervening, aud the cabins
are even mere scattered. Sunday too. as
Ihave heretofore told you, is washing day,
mending day, prospect hunting and, gal
day. There is no marrying to do no
children here to baptize no sacramen
tal feast no females to exert a. hallowed
influence no homes to tia men down.
Such a state of society, I venture to assert,
has never before existed .in the world'
history; I am impatient to get back lo
some spot where tho thirst for gold hat
tnot drunk up tho nobler qualities of tbu
; human heart, and made men brutish, sel
fish and unholy. admit there are soma
exceptiors, but generally speaking, men
herd are not what they were at homo.
AH restraints are removed, -and the cloven
foot was boldly displayed."
Trcffssor Vrbsfcr.
The Boston Post of Wednesday," say
the report from the mil ou the previous
evening repiesented Dr. Webster as ex
hibiting signslhat h had begun to reahza
his true condition. He was' disposed li
couveise on the serious topics appropri
ate to his unhappy situatiou.'
The Herald says that his appearance la
that of deep dejection His time is most
ly occupied in reading his favorite author
and iu writing. A wruer in the Bee slate
that Professor Webster has hsen. among"
the most strenuous opponents of the abo
lition of capital punishment.
A despatch from Boston, dated Apr.l
4th says: There was a repoit this morn
ing that Dr. Webster's eldest daughir
had become raving crazy, but it is contra
dicted on reliable authority. ;
The story which was circulaiftdrelaiiva
to a student having seen Dr. Webs'.er
over thedtad boJy of Dr. Parkman, arose
in this way:. A clergy .nan did slats a.
case to the Attorney General before thu
conclusion of the Webster trial, but it did
not relate to a rasa which will probably
be male yublid shortly.
Don't tcant to Quarrel. There. j . x
noted mail contractor in Kumney, N. II.,.
who can tell as big a story, as most cf
'em, and who possesses one of the bcs:
natured and most accommodating disposi
tions in the world. .
I was passing through New Jersey,",
said he, 'a few years ago, and there cams
by us iu the air a flight of crows, nine
miles Ion?, and so thick was . the flock,'
! you couldnt see the sun for em.'' :.
I t ti.t- "
l nc contractor tola tins . in a tavern,
where several persons were stancjir.jj
about, one .of whom a course limed,,
heavy featured son of the granite State
ventured to query the correctness of tho
assertion. . .-. ;- "
'Ifoic long did iou say, neighbor?
'.Nine miles, sir. .
'Drm't b'lieve it. was the reply. . -
Wal, look'ere, you, said the contract-
nest nart.
The stranger was satisfied-
Definition of Dogmatism... . . , ,
"Robert, my dear," said Jtimyy with
the deferential air of a sholer, "Robert
what did Mr. Carraways mean when. he
said he hated dog -dogmatism?' " Topps.
waspuzzed. "Robert, my dear," Jenny
urged, ".what what. in the. world is dog
matism?" "Now it was the weakness of
Topps never to confess ignorance of any.
thing soever to iiis wife. "A man should
never do it." . Topps had been known in
a convivial season to declare, ?'it-makes
em conceited." , Whereupon Topps pre
pared himself, as was his wont,: to make a
solemn, satisfying answer. Taking oX
his hatond smoo!hiilg:the, wrinkles of his
brow," Topps said,' "Humph! what is a.
dogmatism? ,,Why, it is this, of course;,
dogmatism is puppyism corns toils full'
growth." . ,
"Th.e.y, f.ay,' i Ht iUvcly the rei!
liar known.'
or, 'you re a stranger, and I lion l wantto
quarrel, with yer... Sa to please you, '
take off a quarter of a mile from the thin-
t