1 1 1 $ 1 Si I u
T7E BLESSINGS OF GOVERNMENT, LIKE THE DEWS OF HEAVEN, SHOULD BE DISTRIBUTED ALIKE, UPON THE HIGH AND.THE LOW, THE RICH AND THE POOR.
iN'W SERIES, 1. 39.
EBENSBURG, PA., THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 1866.
VOL. 13 NO. 2.
Titpiuect in ILentucfcy.
A correspondent of the Mt. Sterling J
ylij&nttnd, gives the following account I
of L fiery fiend visible in Brackm county : !
IJuacken Co., Ky., Feb. 17, 18CG. j
The people of this neighborhood are in !
l! e "tva'.est staie 01 titui Limik " -"i.
q,unce of a remarkable visitation or appa
rition of some domonirt-J personage in onr
u.iJst. I am not a believer in the doc
trine that disembodied spirits can "revisit
the glimpses of the moon," nor do I believe
that epoch designated in prophecy, when
the chains of Satan are to be unloos
ed has arrived. Hut the things whereof 1
now write are of such strange import, so
inexplicable, that I have determined to put
you 'in possession of a full and explicit
narrative of them, merely premising that
even- wild is true-, and the facts sworn to,
as witness the accompanying affidavit.
What it is, I am unable to say. I merely
cue the facts, such as I am personally
ct'iiiiizaat of, and leae it to wiser heads
than mv own to unravel the mystery.
Hn Monday night last, after myself and
family had retired to rest, we were sud
tiuiil v aroused bv a great outcry from the
negro quarters which are immediately to
the rear of the house' in which prayers
vii'd for supremacy with blasphemies, men,
women and children screaming "tire ! "
jmd murder! " at the top of their voices,
all conspiring to create a scene worthy of
a pandemonium. Terribly startled, my
wife and 1 sprang from our bed. '1 he
room was illuminated as brightly as by a
tiood of sunlight, though the light was of
a bluish cast. Our first and most reason
able conclusion was that the negro cabins
ver: being consumed by fire. We rushed
to the windows and beheld a siaht that
fairly curdled the blood in our veins with
horror, and tilled our hearts with utmost i
terror. .My daughter, shrinking loudly, j
came llying into my room, hysterical with i
liar. This is what we beheld : j
Standing to the right of the upper cabin, J
r.ear the fence that separates the negroes' ;
garden fiom th3 house yard, was a crea-
ture of gigantic stature, mid most horrify
ing aj pcarai:-e. It was nearly as high as
thi comb of the cabin, and had a mon
strous head not dissimilar in shape to that
of an ape ; two short very white horns'
appeared above each eye ; its arms were
long, covered with shaggy hair of an ashy J
Lli- and terminated with huge paws, not ;
unlike those of a cat, and armed with long
and hooked claws. Its breast was as ;
br.j.oJ as that of a large sized ox. Its !
hgs n--emb!ed the front legs of a horse, '
only the hoofs were cloven. It had a ;
Ions ta;, armed with a dart shaped h'.rr!, j
which it was ewy.iniially switching about. !
Its eyes glowed like two living coab of i
fire, while from its nostrils were emitted j
sheets of bluish colored flume, with a hiss-
ing sound, like the hissing of a serpent, j
only a thousand fold louder. Its general j
color, save in its arms, was a dull dingy ;
brown. The air was powerfully impreg- j
n.itcd wirh a smell of burning sulphur. ;
lhe poor negroes were evidently laboring I
under the extremest terror, and two of I
the::), an old woman and a lad, were ac- j
fxj.'.'y driven to insanity by their fears,
and have not recovered their reason up to j
this writing. I Jy not know how long j
this monster, demon or devil, wa3 visible j
atter we reached the window possibly ;
some three seconds. "When it vanished j
it was enveloped in a spiral column of !
fiainc that reached nearly to the tons of the !
locust trees adjacent, and which hid his
horrid form completely from view. The
extinction of the flame was iu.-tantaneous,
and with it3 disappearance we were re
lieved of the presence of this remarkable
visitor.
It would be impossible for me to at
tempt to describe the effect of this visita
tion upon the members of my family.
Suffice it to say that my wife and two
daughters are firmly persuaded that it was
the veritable Satan. For myself, I would
willingly believe that we all, by some cu
rious coincidence, had been the victims of
a horrid nightmare, did I not knew that
we were fully awake, and actually wit
nessed that which is above recorded.
Again, if ours had been the only family
visited by this unearthly creature, I should
cave kept silent, ami, perhaps, tutored my
fc'ind iuto the belief that it was a halluci
nation. l;ut precisely the same apparition made
its appearance at my neighbor's Mrs. W.
ty'le, appearing there in precisely the
Saaie shape in which it presented itself to
have the head, which appeared to
who witnessed it at Mrs. D's to re
Me that of a horse. At Mr. Adam
"'lua's another neighbor, its head was
t of a vulture. On Tuesday night it
Jpeared at Mr. Jesse Bond's there wear
"S the head of an elephant. At all these
r' s it made the same appearance as at
my house excepting only the changing of
the head and disappeared in the same
manner. . These parties arc all reliable
ladies and gentlemen, and at my request
have made oath to what they witnessed.
What it is, what its object, what its
mission, is something that passes my poor
comprehension. What I have above writ
ten is simple, unadorned truth. You are
at liberty to use this in any manner you
may esteem proper.
Respectfully your friend,
Nathaniel G. Squires.
Slate t'f Kentuchj, Urachal Co. Set.
This day personally appeared before the
undersigned, John G. Finley, Justice of
the Peace, within and for the county and
State aforesaid, Nathaniel G. Squires, f
Minerva Squires, Sarah D. Squires, Lucy
Squires, Martha W. Dole, Adam Fuqua
and Jesse Bond, who being duly sworn
according to law, declare that the state
ments in the foregoing letter are true as far
as refers to each of them. And I certify
that the affiants are credible and reliable
persons, and their statements entitled to
full faith and credit.
John G. Fini.ey, J. P., B. C.
THE ABOLITION PLATFORM.
The resolutions adopted by the Aboli
tion State Convention are very long and
very wordy meaning anything, every
thing:,
or nothing.
We give an abstract
of their tenor,
1st. Renews the Republican party's
pledges for the Union and its preservation.
lid. Asks for the "gathering of the le
gitimate fruits of the war."
od. That "the failure in these grave
dutios" would be as '"criminal a3 seces
sion." -
1th. Endorses the course of Andrew
Johnson up to the time Lincoln was as
sassinated, and ask him to stand now
where he did then.
oth. Endorses the Rump Congress's
;.ctiou in excluding the Southern States
from the U. S. Congress.
Gth. That no man who has voluntarily
engaged in the late rebellion, or has held
office under the rebel organization, should
be allowed to sit in the Congress of the
Union : and that the law known as the
test oath should not be repealed.
7th. Asks for the payment of the na
tional debt.
The 8th is about the negro and we
give it i;i full :
JUiolved, That the public faith io not
less solemnly pledged to the protection, in
the enjoy nieut of all their natural rights
of their persons, property and domestic re- j
latious of the colored population whot
have been emancipated by the liat of the j
people, and under the providence of God ; ;
and who deserved liberty by their kind- j
ncss and fidelity to our soldiers in prison,
or wounded, or seeking escape from their
tormentors, and by their courage in bear
ing arms for and fighting the battles of the I
Union. Even as man is more precious j
than money in every just account, so the j
honor of the nation is more sacredly en- j
gaged to these humble but never treacher- I
ous friends, than to those who hold its !
bonds stamped with the broad seal of the
United States, that their freedom shall j
not be a mockery, nor their just hopes of !
security, education and elevation in intel- j
lectual and moral improvement disap- !
jKjinted ; and this faith must be kept invi- !
olate. Applause."
The (Jth asks protection of the iron and
other interests.
10th. Is a very funny resolution, at
tempting to flatter Governor Curtin, and
keep bis friends and more conservative of i
the Republicans in the traces.
11th. Approves the law relieving real
estate from taxation for State purposes.
12th. Is devoted to the "dear soldiers."
13. Lauds the 'consummate ability' of
Edwin M. Stanton." Cheers.
14th. Asks for equitable bounties for
the soldiers.
loth. Endorses General Grant.
10. Says: "That any attempt by for
eign nations to establish a monarchial
government on this Continent, is evidence
of a design to destroy the Republic."
17th. Complains of the "course of Sen
ator Cowan, and says he has forfeited the
confidence of those to whom he owes his
place." Greeted with unbounded ap
plause. 18th requires the president of the Con
vention and the candidate for governor to
appoint the chairman of the State central
conimittee-
C3 Smuggling on
the Canadian lines
still continues
to a considerable extent.
and spirituous liquors are being brought
over in spite of every precaution.
Every thousand sheets of fractional
currency costs the government about
twenty-ouc dollars for their production.
STAND BY THE PRESIDENT.
We copy the following able and patri
otic article from the New York Observer,
the organ of the Presbyterian Church, and
one of the ablest and most influential pa
pers in the Union. These words of so
berness and truth, coming from such a
source, will have their effect among reli
gious people, and will have much to lo in
turning the popular tide in favor of Presi
dent Johnson. The Observer says :
It is high time that the Union men of
the whole country made their sentiments
known in u voice of thunder at the doors
of the National Legislature. With a na-
triotic and intelligent President, called to
his high place by the voice of God and
j the people the country is in danger of
j having its will defeated by the action of
Congress. It is the right of those who
! ar unconditional men from the beginning,
and who have never given place for an in
i stant to the heresy of disunion, should as
j sert the rights that we, as a majority of
I American people, have under the Consti-
tution, which Las now been established by
i the sword, as once more the law of the
j w holj land.
i Andrew Johnson was nominated and
i elected to the Vice Presidency, w hence, in
; the Povidence of God, he has been eleva
ted to the Presidency, from the State of
Tennessee. If it was and is out of the
Union, he was not a citizen of the United
States. Tennessee has, under all the
forms known to our laws, reasserted her
own lights to an equal standing in the Un
ion with her sister States, and has sent to
her Congress and ours true and tried Un
ion men, who, like the President, have
been true fo the old Hag through the long
and bloody war. Those men have a
right to go into the hall of the House of
Representatives, present their credentials,
and demand their teats. They are as
fairly entitled to their place as Andrew
Johnson is to his! So the President says
and so we say. Mr. Speaker Colfax may
as JU3lIy bu lockcd out b7 tLe doorkeeper
as .Ur. liepresenlatives Hawkins, woo
has fought gallantly on the field of battle
for the right that is now denied him.
That he, and such as he, tire refused ad
mission, is u defiance of the Constitution
and laws; a nullification by the House of
the law of the land ; a resistance of the
will of the people as expressed by the el
ection of Mr. Johnson, and by the ratifi
cation of the Constitution. This is a
high "round, but it is tenable. It does
not invade the right of the House to judge
of the qualifications of its members. It
may tender the loyalty oath to each Ten
nessee delegate, and he must stand or fall
by it. But Tennessee has as good a
right to-day to be heard on the iloor of
that House as Massachusetts or New
York. If she has not sent true Union
men, she can send others when these now
waiting; are found wanting. But she has
her rights, and this awful war has been
all in vain if, in the morning of peace, we
are to have the rights of the people tram
pled in the dust by the men whom we
have sent to rebuild the shattered walls of
our glorious republic.
The question, and the only question, is
the integrity of the Union, lias it been
disolvcd ? Was secession an accomplish
ed fact ? If not, then the States are there,
and the restored Constitution is their pro
tection and the bond of our Union. We
whose watchword in all phases of politics,
and in r;!l disaster and desponding hours
of the war, has been, "The Constitution
as it is and the Union as it was," will not
abandon that watchword now that peace
and order reign from the St. Lawrence to
the Gulf.
The Fakmers Barometer. Take a
common glass pickle bottle, wide-mouthed
; fill it within three inches of the top
with water ; then take a common Flor
ence oil flask, removing the straw cover
ing and cleansing the flask throughly :
! plunge the neck of the flask as far it will go,
ana ttie barometer is complete. In line
weather the water will rise into the neck
of the flask even higher than the mouth of
the pickle bottle, and in wet, windy
weather, it will fall to within an inch of
the mouth of the flask. lie fore a heavy
gale of wind, the water has been seen to
leave the flask altogether at least eight
hours before the gale came to its height.
The invention was made by a German,
and communicated to a London Journal.
ItaF" Gold and silver coins have been
recently struck at the mint with the mot
to, 'In God we trust.' This will give
point to the sarcasm abroad that the only
God the Yankees have faith in is the
"almighty dollar." Statesman.
All things by turn and nothing long
Thc weather and the Republican party.
SENATOR COWAN'S PLAN.
In (Le United States Senate, on Friday
last, Senator Cowan spoke as follows :
I will endeavor to answer a question
whieh has been often put, w ith an air of
braggart triumph that indicates that an
answer' is impossible. The question is
this: Would you bring back here into
be &raxa E?bds and traitors, the authors
of all our troubles, whose hands are yet
red with the blood of our slaughtered peo
ple ? And if not, how do you propose to
avoid it unless you deny these Suites rep
resentation, for a time at least " To all
this I answer, "No," as emphatically as
any other Senator can do ; but I would
Keep mem out in a very amerent way
from that proposed. I would keep them
out by following the mode and seeking the
remedy afforded by the Constitution and
laws, instead of adopting a course forbid
den by oath and unjust in itself. 1 would
punish criminals and not enslave commu
nities. I would single out the guilty and
not confound the innocent with them. Is
not this easy ? When the traitor asks for
admission here you commit him for trial,
and the offense is not bailable. I sunposo
everybody will agree that would keep
him out at least until he is tried. It has
anothcr advantage, too. It is lawful, aud
none can complain of it. After the trial,
if acquitted, he is not a traitor, and his
case presents no difficulty. If he is con
victed, attainted, and hanged, I suppose
that would allay all fears of his return.
Now, Mr. President, when I think how
obvious and effectual this plan would be,
I am amazed that it should have entered
into the human mind to contrive any oth
er. Why is it not adopted ? Sir, I am
afraid to answer. I am afraid there are
patriots who would prefer to let treason
go unwhipped rather than they should
risk their own hold on power. And, if
so, 1 am sorry that any man can be so
short sighted as not to see the fatal conse
quences of such an exchange as this.
Does it not say, "Your treason may go if
you will let us rule the country V One
word more aud I am done. Tlie country
is alarmed, the people are anxious, and
the political atmosphere bodes the coming
of no common storm. What cau be done
to prevent it and bring back peace to the
country, and harmony' to the party ? Is
there no common ground on which we
can stand ? Is there no common stan
dard around which we can rally ? I think
there iss, sir. Surely we may go back to
the Constitution which we have all sworn
to suprort. We can go back to the laws
and enforce them without discussion
among ourselves. Then there are things
which we may avoid ; new measures upon
which we cannot agree, and which only
serve as wedges to split us further and fur
ther asunder. If, however, we refuse
moderate counsel, the only remedy will be
to take the consequences, and they seldom
linger long behind the act.
Bi RiED Twice. Four days after the
Rebels tired on Fort Sumpter, a son of
Mr. Duncan, of Mecca, Ohio, enlisted
for the war. He joined a Western regi
ment, and after being in several battles
was reported killed at the battle of Stone
River. His body was brought home and
interred. Afterwards intelligence was
brought to the parents by returned Union
prisoners that their son was not dead, but
in a Rebel prison in Georgia. Other
prisoners, returning from there last spring,
brought the sad news of his death to the
sorely distressed family. When the war
closed an opportunity was offered to pen
etrate the rebel lines. Mr. Duncan sent
down and had his son brought home again
and buried twice, as was supposed. It
was natural that they should be reconciled
to their loss, but a few days ago their son
Bob, in spite of wounds, and deaths and
funerals, came "marching home," and is
now enjoying the hospitality of the paren
tal roof. JZnijuircr.
Holding Back the Shoci.ukus. For
a great number of years it has been the
custom in France to give to young females
of the earliest age, the habit of holding
back the bhoulders, and thus expanding
the chest. From the observation of an
atomists, lately made, it appears that the
clavicle, or collar bone, is actually longer
in females of the French nation than those
of the English. As the two nations are
of the Caucasian race, as there is no other
remarkable difference in their bones, and
this is peculiar to the sex, and it may be
attributed to the habit above mentioned,
which, by the extension of the arms, has
gradually produced a national eulongation
of this bone. Thus we see that habit
may bo employed to alter and improve
the solid bones. The French have suc
ceeded in the developeraent of a part that
adds to health and beauty.
Important to Tax-Payers. A Wash
ington paper remarks that the people of
the adjoining States of Maryland and Vir
ginia need laborers to till the soil, that it
may bring forth the accustomed products.
But they cannot get black labor.
Why ? There are forty thousand negroes
in the District, the large majority of whom
raay be seen walking about in idleness, or
sunning themselves in some sequestered
i corner, or huddling around some smoking
faggots, receiving mutual warmth from
each other. Why then will they not la
bor ? Because the government, thro' the
Frecdmen's Bureau, feeds, clothes, and
furnishes physicians, and coffins when
they die, and as if that was not sufficient.
j sends a minister to pray them out of this
world into another. They are sunrorted
j here in their idleness ; while fields lay
waste where honest labor would bo re
warded. Was there ever greater injus
tice than this ? Hear it ye honest sons of
toil (unfurtunately white) who labor daily
to earn a support for yourselves and fam
ilies ; hear it you laboring millions who
pay enormous and grinding taxes for the
support of idleness and the fostering of
vice. Will you support and countenance
I it by voting for the men who pass appro-
pnation bills lor this purpose ? If not,
look you to it that these men never dis
grace or pollute our legislative halls again
with their presence. Send only men who
further the interests of the country and de
fend the purity of our institutions.
The Black at Leisure. A corres
pondent of the Press, describing the occu-
pants of the galleries of Congress writes :
j "Colored soldiers are largely represen-
ted. They come early and sit late, ex
; hibiting a decorum and attention to what
j is going on that show how deeply they are
j concerned in the solution of the stubborn
' problems of the hour."
j White soldiers cannot afford to while
away the days of their lives in the galle
j ries of Congress. If they are still in the
j service, they are doing military duty
j somewhere, instead of idling about the
i capital. If they have been discharged,
they are toiling to get their families bread,
and have no money to spare for a trip to
Washington, and no time to spend in lis
tening to debates. But even if they had
the leisure and the means of which the
colored braves seem to be so abundantly
possessed, they would hardly seek enter
tainment in the spectacle daily presented
' on the floor of Congress in beholding their
political birth-right given away to the
blacks, and the Constitution of their fath
ers tinkered into a more negro code.
bucn tlomgs are uouuttess pleasing in tne
eyes of the colored auditory who crowd
the galleries, but the white soldier has lit
tle occasion to mourn that he has no time
to spend in watching them.
Wisixm's Utterances. The human
mind is like a vast Armament lighted on
all sides byr stars of different magnitude.
Great talent renders a man famous,
great merit procures respect, and great
learning commands esteem. G reat wealth,
when unaccompanied by these more enno
bling qualities, receives only the homage
of fools.
He who seeks and gains by promises a
fellow man's confidence, or excites a hope
he is unwilling to gratify, is worthy only
of humanity's censure and divinity's curse.
Death once seen at our hearths, leaves
a shadow which abideth forever.
The more true merit a person has the
more they applaud it in others.
We revenge in haste and passion ; we
repent at leisure and from reflection.
Mercer Colntv. A man, supposed
to be the murderer of the man found dcad
near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was arres
ted near that place a few days ago and
sent to Mercer jail.
At the late burning of the Mercer Court
House, after endeavoring for some time to
extinguish the flames without success, the
volunteer firemen tilted the engine into
the fire, and let it perish with the building.
C3"Tho other day the New York Tri
bune published a dispatch stating that Mr.
Yallandigharn had hung a flag out of his
window to testify his joy at the veto of
the Negro Bureau bill, and thereupon
asked, "UVwcAflag?" The Luzerne Un
ion answers by saying that it was that one
not long ago pronounced by the Tribune to
be "the flaunting lie" "hate's polluted
rag," &c. What a sockdolager !
Wendell Philips, in a speech in the
Brooklyn Academy of Music, on Tuesday
evening, spoke of President Johnson as
General Lee's "successor," and classed
him with Burr and Arnold as "a traitor
who has failed." These denunciations of
the President were loudly applauded.
REM A UK A BLE ESC A PE.
The following beats til the stories of
remarkable escapes which we remember
ever to have seen : "On the passage of
the ship Anaxander from New Orleans to
New York, a young lad, about fourteen
years of age, from the naturally frolicsoina
and mischievous disposition, became so
troublesome in his pranks that he was
threatened byr the captain, if they were
continued, that he would confine him in a
water cask. Our youngster took no heed,
however, and, at his next offence, he was
put in the cask, which was headed up,
leaving a large .bung-hole for the admis
sion of air. That night the ship encoun
tered a violent stoim, and, in a sudden
lurch, the cask containing the boy rolled
over into the sea. Fortunately, the cask
struck bung up, and floated about thirty
hours, when it was thrown upon the
beach at St. Bias. Here the boy made
I desperate efforts to extricate himself from
his prison, without success, and, in des
pair, gave up to die. Some cows, how
ever, strolling on the beach, were attrac
ted to the cask, and, in walking round it,
one of them, it being fly-time, switched
her tail into the bung-hole, which the lad
grasped with a desperate resolution. The
Cow bellowed, and set off for life, and af
ter running some two hundred yards with
ttie cask, struck it against a log on the
beach and knocked it to smash. Tin;
boy wa3 discovered by some fishermen on
the Point, and taken into Appalachicola,
where, a small collection being made for
him, he was enabled to proceed on his
journey homeward.
Stick a Pin Here.- The Washington
correspondence of the Philadelphia Ledger,
under date of the 27th, says:
The President, last night, in response
to the direct questions of several Congress
men, declared that he teas ojytoseJ to uil
constitutional amendments until the Southern
members were in their mats, and so the
South can have a voice in the. matter.
He said the question of representation was
a small matter and that the North could
well afford to overlook the two-fifths ad
vantage which the South now had, be
cause emigration and kindred cause would
soon remedy it without legislation. If
the matter must be chr nged at all, he was
in favor of making voting population the
basis. He then asked how they proposed
to get such an amendment through the
South. The reply was, "In the same
way, Mr. President, that you got the con
stitutional amendment abolishing slavery
through, by a little Presidential pressure."
Mr. Johnson replied that he Mir no :uti
larit'i between t.'cc lico cases. In regard to
the test oath, he said he was inclined to
think that the old form of swearing t sup
port the Constitution was a sufficient tdt oj'
A Beai'tieui. Idea. Among the Alle
ghenics there is a soring so small that a
single ox could drain it dry on a summer's
day. It steals its unobtrusive way mong
the hills till it speads out into the beauti
ful Ohio. Thence it stretches away a
thousand miles, leaving on its banks more
than a hundred villages and cities, and
more than a thousand cultivated farms,
and bearing on its bosom more than a
thousand steamboats. Then joining the
Mississippi, it stretches away some twelve
hundred miles of more, until it falls into
thi great emblem of eternity. It is one
of the great tributaries of the ocean, which
obedient only to God, shall roll and roar
until the angel, wiih one foot on sea aud
th? other on land, shall lift up his hand to
heaven and swear that time shall be no
longer. So with moral influence. It is
a rivulet, an ocean, boundless and fathom
less as eternity.
Why they Howl The Corry Ttle
(jraph goes right to the kernel of the sub
ject in one sentence ; "The Frecdmen's
Bureau bill was an attempt to bribe the
President (by placing almost absolute
power in his hand) to sign a bill which
would give unlimited office-holding pow
er to the party which possessed the ma
jority in Congress for the time being."
The whole thing was unmistakably based
upon Thad. Steven's plan "Perpetual
ascendency of the Union party," ("throw
ing conscience to the devil," of course.)
I low those fanatics would have reveled
could they have got control of so many
more millions of dollars and the creation
of ten thousand more statellites, in the
shape of officers, agents and lackeys of
the Bureau !
Employment. Assure yourself that
employment is one of the best remedies for
the disappointments of life. Let even
your calamity have the liberal effect
occupying you in some active virtue.
of
so
fchall you in a nimner remember ethers
till you forget yourself. rratt.
II