Nebraska Newspapers

    ONE OF UNCLE SAM’S GREAT WATERWAY FEATS
J
ZjiOCttA ZU.V jSHD ffEADGATZa
£
TUI: ■ o' i e Uaguca da u over the nuiefcsands oj the Colorado river In Arizona Is one of the blg
Ct‘ •' rer accomplished ty the ‘United States government The dam Is nearly a mile long
ar.-i. :■* i -*air<it#r" « !c!i> dOtMHO tons. The-<*anal frcjfc the dam ia to pass under the river near Yuma
la i i pfcc-s l.M» feet long and 15 feet In diameter
TELLS OF ESKIMOS
'SHARED FOOD WITH BIRDS
j Newsboy’s Object Lesson Wasted on
Hotel Loungers Who Watch Act
From Window.
Kansas City. Mo.—In Iront ot the
Hotel Baltimore a newsboy shivered
on a cold morning recently. One hand
was busy making frequent trips to his
mouth with a large “hamburger,"
from which he was taking hungry
sized bites,
"Poor little rat. He must be nearly
frozen,” a traveling man remarked as
he sat in a large leather chair look
ing out upon the snow and ice.
Just then some snow birds lighted
a few feet away. They hopped about
as if half frozen. The newsboy tossed
them a piece of his sandwich. They
pecked at it eagerly. Then he tossed
the remainder down and watched the
birds peck at it so eagerly.
N'o. The traveling man didn’t go
out and give the newsboy a dollar or
buy him a new overcoaL He lighted
another cigar.
“I’d like to do something for that
lad,” he remarked "But it's Just too
cold to move."
Head of Government Schools
Gives Interesting Data.
*f«i to Alaska *n 1890—Describes
Espenemces in Oealng W.th Sup
pcsediy Savage Tribes. Who
Mew Raise Reindeer.
W nL.ntton—A few days a so a
rton atorhy man with a quiet man
ner a si-iii browned by m-ich outdoor
•lie and the steady eye of one used
to looking across great distances,
fame to Washington with such small
f-« that It »as more than a week
War the re|k>rters were aware of
bia ungear* at all He is W. T. Lopp
hr-4 of the government's school sys
tem for Eskimos, and a man who has
sprat moot of his life since 1890 in
Alaska, seldom “coming out." as he
calls a trip do* n to the states.
Lepp was a Hoesier schoolmaster,
a hoy )Ut oot of college, when the
I ternmea* scat him and another
y -ung was op to Cape Prince of
Wales on Ileriag Strait to start an
Eskimo school. He expected to re
main only two years
When te went up he and his part
ner were the only white me® living in
all at northern Alaska. They went
aiooe into a district where the natives
werw so dreaded that whalers Would
not pal into port, even for hasten in
"W* had seme trouble with them at
fcr*. bat we insisted oa haring our
»ay When they saw we werv abso
lutely Jast u4 fair arith them, their
attitude chanced
“Tbat B-*t a inter at learned that
to* tZstutnos want*-! •<> oan reindeer,
bat that tb r>-» rwaa oAcers would
»<** Hermit the importation Some of
tt# eathe> «*« o«ned reindeer in
the » t man herds serosa the straits
And m s-eased a shame that they
»•**■ Isrtilita to brine their property
•cans* from Asia, so near rhat the
A brrtao ! i«hu roold be seen over
the water on rl«tr days. .. *•-*'-*
“We spiraled to Washington tor
t»rmt*sUm to at port reindeer. .Dut
otter government agents-had preceded
•js in this request. Before we had a
reply from our letter that summer a
revenue cutter put into port fr^th _ a
shipment cf reindeer on board". We
were overjoyed to know that the pro
hibition of ^ he law had been removed
and set about getting more.’ I
“In 1892 came the first 'laTge Im
portation. We brought in 1.200 that
tear and from these grew the present
he-d. scattered throughout Alaska and
numbering over 35.000.
“The reindeer policy was gradually
evolved We impress upon the Lapps
and Ksklmos that the reindeer are ex
ciusively their property and care. For
instance, they are not allowed to sell
female reindeer to white men, so that
the brood animals are to1 be^perpetu
ally in the custody and qwnership of
the natives. ’
“The herders are free to breed their
animals and s'-ll khpir calves or stock
| of any age or sex to the other natives.
“Reindeer are food, -flotbing and
j transportation to the natives.”
FORETELLS DEATH OF MANY
—*—:
Tennessee Seer Predict* Volcanic
Eruption in Pennsylvania That
Will Rival Th*t of Martinique. . •
Chattanooga, Tenn. — The Rev.
Thomas Clark, a picturesque charac
1 ter who for years has wandered in the
mountains of eastern Tennessee and
; Southwest Virginia, styling himself
•be "Prophet of the Smokies." de
‘ dares that, he has Just had a vision
i in which it wa«( revealed to him by
‘•a divine messenger that during the
present year. 1912. a volcanic eruption
equal to that of Martinique or Vesu
vius will take place in the* state of
Pennsylvania, and that, nearly 900.000
'C-uls will be plunged . into eternity
without a moment's warning. .-He as
serts he foretold he-assassination of
President McKinley, the fire at Bal
Tlmore and the San Francisco earth
^ quake jf
. -4'Sleepy Tom..' .is he is called by
mioy. tra vels-abouj the country with
^ no fixed placer of residence, and often
sleeps In his buggy, drawn by an 111
fed horse. The vehicle Is plastered
with quotations from the bible He
sells nothing, nor does he beg.
Me has a circuit, which he gets
over about every three months, and
each time he stops with a different
family. He does not wait upon the
formality of an invitation, but just
drives up, unhitches hiB horse, unties
I his dog from the rear of his Vehicle
and walks in.
Found in a Poorhouse
Ashtabula, O.—While Albert Olson
“was being taken to the poorhouse at
Kingsville to spend the winter, a sis
ter In Beloit, Wis., was seeking him
to inform him that their father in
Sweden had died, leaving him a third
interest of his large estate He was
located in the poorhouse through a
letter sent the local postmaster by
| the sister. He will go to Beloit and
| later to Sweden to claim the estate
SPLICE MAN’S. SPINAL CORD
- K • *
Accompl «»r Dedicate Opera
t-o«i at Far Sapkaway on
Ballet Victim. . _
Sri Turk.—James Brslul*. nine
teen. is is St. Jurpk't bctpltai. Far
K»tai«T. ha tine iSnltK a rerj
rare sod dangerous surgical operation
A MM which broke tao ot his
wfii bras also severed his spiral cord.
Or WUHas3 L Mclcfcaby. assisted by
Or B T Thomas. house physician aad
aaraaaia. aad Or Balter, a former in
feros. hare spliced the ends of- the
card. Thrjr said that, thanks to his
pinnae S*r*aque. Kenzcls m. jr live
lar pears, although he will alwajs be
paralysed fraa the waist dean
feeersita was shot bjr Joseph Feed
la Facet'* grocery store at lewood.
L. L Focd. arrested said two men
entered aad he thoegtr he recognized
<ss of ’hem as a re*afi»e of a
~Wiiiliiito~ he had rent to prison.
Bo he opaaad fire d-mgeroasly sound
Or Msicafcy sod tl* assistants tried
| ° draw tbgettugi tbe end of Renzula's
an^astiteh them, but they
<^ild ,<sot do" so exactly. . So they
r'-w 't^<> ends as closely as possifiie<
' od fixed them In place by suturBMp
' hens In the spinal canal.
10b.. TO- MOTHER. ONE BA$£
What New jffork Wigh School Girls
Taking Course Ifi Housekeeping
Wjll-Oo.
New Vor!:.—(Jap "hundred girl stu
dents In the W’adleigh high school
i here who are taking course in bouse
. keeping will adopts* baby and care
lor the child as a part of the work ot
j the course The pupils will take turns
in washing and dressing the tntant.
feeding it. singing it to sleep and
•wheeling it In Us goqnrt.
A special committee selected by
*be class has picked out a baby !rom
j a cumber of loundiings offered by
•he State Charities Aid association.
The students are now making prepara
tions' for a "naming party," to be giv
en in Its bo not. The name will be
selected by' vctd
jFJLES QUEER* EXPENSE BILL
^Candidate 85 Cents to Repair
! f His Gum Shoes—Total Expen
i 1 vulture Was $10.37.
* Sprlngflea,' Mass.—Such unusual
ytems of campaign expenditure as shoe
repairing and cost of canvas gloves
are included In the statement filed
with the county clerk by Councilman
John J. Walsh of this city, who
squeezed Into office a few days ago by
a plurality of 32 votes. His total ex
penditure was $10.70, and the items
are dignified by a big letter caption:
“How I Did It."
He began with a contribution of $3
to the Republican city commttee. and
later spent $4.75 for advertising. The
remainder is accounted for as follows:
“Paid ten cents for canvas gloves
to protect my hands while knocking
on doors, seeking votes.
“Paid 85 cents for repairs to foot
wear used in gum-shoe campaign."
SENDS V ALUED WORKS TO U. S.
(ZJWSjOOC Hoerisetiel Collection o'
C«rici to St Taken to New
York by Morgan
Parts -TM World's Part* here—
M Mir»M that J P Kcrtu bat dp
riitd ’• take back anb him to Amer
tea the HomucM ct Uection of
Goth* «t?b end tuatli bought, t be
the ether lay bp the knancler at an
MUartrt -o*t ot C.M «M The col
hcua* shirk Mcludea xae c! the
■or. rateable Kory earrings In the
aeril h MB ta the home of the for
■err oaaar la Parts
Though Mr Korean Is saM to hare
MVatrt. while here, his Intention to
rnMinTi ereetaally all of hlr principal
on treesarao to the relied Stales
from Uoto* aad Parts, bis friends
he la eat likely to strip his houses
their macniSeent adorn
flner than In any
in Kurope I'itisiately
tdl) of the fi»sM of the Morgan
tr anisa ~ns *MI had their *»j to the
he ret»2:tn Museum of Art.
When be raire to Paris from New
] York >lr. Morgan was accompanied
iVV’ Francis'FT KfiffiTcutt *o( "X»tr
i York and this fact gives rise anew
to "he Query: Is Mr. Morgan in good
health, and Is he thinking, of .Tctirinh
from business? Apparently he was in
good health while here and he got
around In lively fashion.
Further comment was caused by
the action of the French government
- in eepding . two.detectives ^with the
{financier when hecftjfcged .Lhe .channel
cn hls’way to London* ' ' *
' Hands Were Froaen to Bar.
Lacrosse. Wis.—Jatpna Ratiel, Chl
'-ag^l aged 18 rears, after a "ride of
49 miles, clingfhg to the handle of n
Burlington passenger train with but a
, few Inches of the lower step upon
which to stand, was saved from freez
ing when discovered fey the conductor
at prescott. . HJs % bands were frozen
to the Iron railing and ‘he was Unable
. to release his hold.
FIND LOG UNDER GROUND
Farmer Encounters Walnut 350 Feet
Below Surface—Was cn Lake
That Covered Kansas.
Topeka. Kan.—A walnut log In a
fine state of preservation has been
found 350 feet under the surface of
the ground on a farm in McPherson
county. C. W. Bachelor, a farmer,
was drilling a well when the log was*
encountered. The tree, more than a
foot in diameter, is supposed to have
grown on the banks of the big lake
•that once covered centra’ Kansas.
I The only part of this ake remain
ing is the'-basin west of McPherson.
■The tree was not fossilized, but was
: just as natural wood as if it had fallen
recently. It must ha7e taken thou
sands of years, local scientists say. for
•the 350 feet of soil, sand and shale to
■accumulate above the log.
Invents New Machine.
Longmont.—Dr. W. H. Easter of
; Longmont, inventor of a flying ma
’chine, is working on a special deliv
ery model for the stock.
HOUGHTS are real forces—liv
ing messengers of power. Love
thoughts, even when brought to bear
upon our pains and trials, transform them
and make them educational.
—Henry Woods.
DISHES FOR PAPER BAG COOK
ERY.
_
!
Hitherto the vegetables of the ordi
i nary cook have been a byword for
! all that is “flat, stale and unprofita
j ble,” and so they have been robbed
of the prestige which their food value
! entitles them.
The mineral matter, salts and fla
j vors are boiled out in the water and
thrown away, the valuable constitu
ents which are so necessary in the
| blood.
Now In cooking vegetables in bags
i nothing is lost.
The cooking is easier, no odor to
penetrate the house, and the result is
: a tasty, well-flavored dish. As the
| evaporation is less in the closely con
: fined bag. It is not necessary to add
as much water when cooking.
A pint of green peas and a cup of
water with a head of lettuce, a tea
spoonful of sugar and two tablespoon
fuls of butter; mix together and place
in a bag and cook for thirty minutes
in a moderate oven.
To cook asparagus, tie up and put
into a greased bag with a quarter of
a cup of water; cook for forty min
utes in a hot oven.
Onions cooked with a very little
water, or none at all. and a cup of
milk added to cook them in, season
ing of salt and pepper and cook forty
minutes on a hot oven.
Potatoes, peel, halve and put suffi
cient for the family into a bag with a
few tablespoonfuls of water, a leaf
of mint and a little sa’.t. Cook from
thirty to forty minutes.
Spinach is washed and put into the
bag without further water for cook
ing. Cook thirty to forty minutes and
place the bag in a dish into which
drain ofT the Juice by piercing with
a fork.
Cutlets.—Take a teaspoonful of
! salted flour, mix with it two table
| spoonfuls of curry powder, grease a
bag very thoroughly. Have ready a
i few- cutlets, dust them with flour, put
! into the bag with a tablespoonful of
minced onion and a cup of chicken
stock, which may be made from the
bones of a roasted fowl. Fold and
seal the bag and cook for forty-five
j minutes. Dish up on a hot platter
and pour the sauce over the cutlets.
_ j ‘
GRINDSTONfi that had not
srit in it how lone would it
tant* to snarpon an ax? And affairs that
had not grit in them, how long would
they take to make a man.
—H. W. Beecher.
PORK DISHES.
Pork is not an aristocratic meat, al
though it is the basis of an enormous
industry. Ham and bacon are not
without honor, but there are few cook
books that mention the cooking of
fresh pork, and rarely the preparation
of salt pork, which is mainly used
with baked beans. Cold roast pork is
as appetizing as any meat, and makes
• a most acceptable salad combined
with celery, as one does In preparing
chicken salad.
It is only those who are privileged
! to raise and fatten their own pork
who fully enjoy it. Country life and
country occupations furnish the right
| conditions for eatiag pork. Since the
rise in the price of pork it has been
; regarded with greater esteem.
The most important thing to be re
membered in the cooking of pork is
that it should be thoroughly done,
j never served rare.
Chopped salt pork, a cupful, added
| to a homely fruit cake using dried \
| apple and molasses, makes a cake fit j
for any epicure.
Spare ribs with sour kraut is an
other homely but well-liked dish of
our grandmother’s.
Bacon wrapped around an oyster
and skewered with a toothpick,
then boiled or baked In a hot oven is
another ladylike dainty.
A stuffed sparerib may be new to
seme. Try. if possible, to buy one i
that has a little meat left on the
bones; fill with a stuffing well sea
soned with onion or sage and put on
top another sparerib. Place in a pan
with a half cup of boiling water and I
| roast an hour, basting often. The I
J potatoes may be peeled and baked
j around the sparerib.
Pork in Paper Bag.—Cut up cold
roast meat in slices, add a finely
j chopped onion, a little tomato catsup
and a bay leaf, salt and pepper. Put
| into a buttered bag and bake on the
rack in a hot oven for ten minutes.
Serve in the bag so that the dish
may be piping hot.
Pork chops to be Juicy and at the
same time well cooked, should be put
i to cook in a very little water, letting
\ It all boil away, then season and
' brown as usual.
Sterilized Coat.
Coal in the mine is one of tno
things freest of germs. Old-time
doctors used to notice coal miners'
wounds healed fast, though begrimed
and besmeared with coal dust. For a
long time it has been thought that
breathing in coal dust caused lung
diseases in miners. Some experts find
fresh coal is as good as sterilized,
and say miners have lung trouble be
cause they do not take the trouble to
put off their damp and sweaty cloth
ing before going from the mine to
their homes, thus taking cold In the
open air walk. Experts say our min
ers ought to put on warm and dr;
clothes at the mouth of the mine.
But it seems the miners have minds
of their own. and although the coal
companies in some places fixed np
hot and cold water baths and dress
ing-rooms at the mouth of the mines
the men would not use them, but
went home to wash and dress, as
bad been their custom *ft>r genera
tions.
O THAT which is assigned you
and you cannot hope too much j
or care too much.
—Emerson.
Fame is the scentless sunflower.
With the gaudy crown of gold:
But friendship is the breathing rose.
With sweets in every fold.
—Oliver W. Holmes.
COOKERY REVIEWS.
Here are a few savory mouthfuls
to be served on different occasions:
Take a good rich pastry, puff paste
is the best, but the plain will do
j nicely. Cut in three-inch squares and
I put on each some cooked chicken,
minced olives seasoned with butter
and lemon juice. Use only a bit of
the filling, fold over paste, pinch
tight and bake. The nice things about
these "bon bouches" is that so many
different kinds of filling may be used,
almost anything in the meat line.
Ham shaved or chopped and mixed
with finely sliced pickie; salmon and
sour cucumber pickles chopped, and
a little lemon juice or vinegar; roast
mutton minced and mixed with cur
rant jelly.
For a change and an appetizing
sandwich filling, scrape a well-fla
vored apple, mix with French dress
ing which has been mixed with two
tablespoonfuls of olive oil, a dash of
salt and pepper and a half tablespoon
ful of lemon juice; spread on the but
tered bread. Brown bread is espe
cially good for this sandwich and one
slice may be spread with cream
cheese and the other with the apple.
Pastry left-overs are easily con
verted into toothsome mouthfuls like
tarts, cheese straws and cakes to
serve with tea. A delicious little ac
companiment to salad is prepared by !
rolling the pastry, sprinkling thickly
with grated rich cheese, fold and roll
and sprinkle again, then cut in dia
monds and bake. Serve either hot or
cold with a salad.
Delicious little tarts may be made
of the merest scraps, and ‘after ba- ;
king fill with any jelly or jam that
is at hand.
Pastry baked around the wooden
molds and filled with sweetened, fla
vored whipped cream is another nice
dessert which may be prepared, all
but the filling, and kept for several ,
days.
O BE as good as our father?
we must be better. When some
one sent a cracked plate to China to
have a set made, every piece In the new
set had a crack in it.
-Wendell Phillips.
DINNER IN A PAPER BAG.
For the roast, choose a rolled one
season well and rub thickly with salt,
slip into a bag which is large enough
for the roast; grease the bag with ;
suet, as butter burns more quickly, j
A three-pound roast will take about
forty-five minutes to roast. Slide the
roast out on a heated platter, break
the bag gently to allow the gravy to
escape. Reheat the gravy and brown
with flour. The one drawback in pa
per bag cookery is that the gravy is
never the rich brown of ordinary
roasts. The flour to be added may
be browned to overcome this defect,
or “kitchen bouquet" may be added
for coloring.
A fowl roasted in a bag with a
bunch of celery or an onion for stuf
fing is not a dish to be lightly es
teemed.
Grease a bag and partly fill with
small, even-sized onions, add a little
water and cook until tender, the time
depending upon the size of the onions.
Remove the bag. puncture the bottom
to let the liquor escape, season with :
butter and cream or with a white
sauce, as one likes.
Potato straws are very attractive
and quickly cooked. Peel the pota
toes and slice on a vegetable cutler
into straws, parboil for five minutes,
drain, add butter, pepper and salt
and put into a greased bag and bake
for fifteen or twenty minutes. Serve
around the roast as a garnish. Sweet
potatoes are nice prepared In this
way and sugar and butter added to
them when put into the bag.
Pies and baked puddings are much
improved in texture if baked in bags.
Cake to be used for puddings, that
is a little stale, may be freshened
nicely by putting for a few minutes
into a bag and laying on the oven
rack.
For a small company chops are very
nice cooked in the individual size and
served piping hot in the bag to each
guest. When our hotels and restau
rants take up paper tag cookery in
earnest we will not be served with
cold chops or steaks.
Youthful Logician.
Having to explain the statement
that the sun never sets on the British
empire, a youthful essayist wrote as
follows: "The sun sets in the west.
Now the British empire lies in the
north, south and east.”—Strand.
City Hall and Statue, Washing!
on
Lincoln s Intuitive
Knowledge of
War
eorge b. McClellan
was 34 years of age when
he was given command of
if the Army of the Potomac
after Bull Run had sent a
frightened huddle of Union
soldiers back to Washington.
McClellan had fought and won bat
tles in West Virginia, and the people
in Washington, looking for a leader
to replace the grave, superannuated,
egotistical General Scott, selected Mc
Clellan. Two weeks after his arrival
in Washington, in a letter to his wife,
he said: “I receive letter after letter,
have conversation after conversation,
calling on me to save the nation, al
luding to the presidency, dictatorship,
etc. As I hope one day to be united
with you forever in heaven, I have no
such aspiration. I would cheerfully
take the dictatorship and agree to lay
down my life when the country is
saved. I am not spoiled in my unex
pected new position.” On another oc
casion he remarked: “My relations
with Mr. Lincoln were generally very
pleasant and I seldom had trouble
with him when we could meet face to
face. The difficulty always arose be
hind my back. I believe that he liked
me personally, and certainly he was
always much influenced by me when
we were together.”
There is no denying the fact that he
gave the raw, undisciplined troops ex
actly the sort of setting-up exercises
and battalion drill they needed. When
the Army of the Potomac, which was
his creature, came under the command
of Grant, the war could have but one
conclusion. There is justification for
the statement of General Meade:
"Had there been no McClellan there
could have been no Grant, for the
army made no essential improvement
under any successors."
McClellan repeatedly urged that the
government should send him rein
forcements for a decisive assault up
on Richmond. "If I save this army
now.” he said in a dispatch to the
secretary of war. “I tell you- plainly
that I owe no thanks to you or to any
persons in Washington; you have
done your best to sacrifice this army.”
Lincoln’s answer of June 28 illus
trates his sympathetic readiness to
take the other man's point of view:
"Save your army at all events. Will
send reinforcements as fast as we
can. . . I feel any misfortune to you
and your army as keenly as you feel
it yourself. . .
On the 5th of November McClellan I
was relieved of the command of the
Army of the Potomac and Burnside
was put in his place.
On the 24th of February, after the
Fredricksburg fiasco. Burnside was re
moved from chief command and
"Fighting Joe" Hooker put in his
place.
Lincoln wrote Hooker: “I have
placed you at the head of the Army
of the Potomac. Of course I have
done this upon what appears to me
sufficient reasons, and yet I think it
best for you to know that there are
some things in regard to which I am
not quite satisfied with you.
*‘I believe you to be a brave and
skilful soldier, which, of course. I like
I also believe you do not mix politics
with your profession, in which you are
right. You have confidence in your
self. which is a valuable, if not indis
pensable. quality. You are ambitious,
which, within reasonable bounds, does
good rather than harm. But I think
that during General Burnside’s com
mand of the army you have taken
counsel of your ambition solely and
thwarted him as much as you could,
in which you did a great wrong to the
country and to a most meritorious
and honorable brother officer. I have
heard, in such a way as to believe
it, of your saying that both the coun
try and the army needed a dictator.
Of course it was not for this, but in
spite of it that I have given you the
command. Only those generals who
gain success can set themselves up as
dictators. What I ask of you is mili
tary success, and I will risk the dicta
torship. The government will support
you to the utmost of its ability, wliich
is neither more nor less than it has
done and will do for all its command
ers.
“I much fear that the spirit which
you have aided to infuse into the army
of criticising their commander and
withholding confidence from him will
now turn upon you. and I shall assist
you as far as 1 can to put it down.
Neither you nor Napoleon, if he were
alive again, could get any good out of
an army while such a spirit prevails
in ft.
**And now, beware of rashness, but
with energy and sleepless vigilance go
forward and give us victories.
“Yours very truly,
■A. LINCOLN.'
The disastrous defeat of Chancel
lo^sville was due to Hooker's failure
to use all his men, an error of judg
ment against which Lincoln had warn
ed him.
When Hooker wanted to attack the
Confederate rear at Fredericksburg.
Lincoln dissuaded him in a graphic
simile: “In one word, I would not take
any risk of being entangled upon the
river, like an ox jumped half over a
fence and liable to be torn by dogs
front and rear without a fair chance
to gore one way or kick the other.”
And he likewise vetoed the plan of ad
vancing on Richmond at. this junc
ture, reminding Hooker that “Lee’s
army, and not Richmond, is your true
objective point. . . . Fight him. too,
when opportunity offers. If he stays
where he is. fret him and fret him.”
Lincoln, by a kind of intuition, di
vined the right thing to do. He had
no real military experience. When he
was made captain of the Sangamon
county company in the Black Hawk
war, he did not know how to get his
men (marching 20 abreast) through a
gate, and he shouted: “This company
is dismissed for two minutes, when it
will fall in again on the other side of
the gate.”
When a member of the house of
representatives,-Mr. Lincoln thus de
scribed his military career in depre
cating the efforts of General. Casa’s
friends to make it appear that the
latter was a great military hero. "By
the way. Mr. Speaker, do you know I
am a military hero? Yes, sir, in the
days of the Black Hawk war I fought
bled and came away. Speaking of
General Cass’s career reminds me of
my own. I was not at Stillman’s de
feat, but I was about as near to it as
Cass to Hull's surrender; and. like
him, 1 saw the place very soon after
ward. It is quite certain I did not
break, but I bent my musket pretty
break, but I bent by musket pretty
badly on one occasion. ... If
General Cass went in advance of me
picking whortleberries, I guess I sur
passed him in charging upon the wild
onion. If he saw any live, fighting
Indians, it was more than I did, but I
had a good many bloody struggles
with the mosquitoes, and, although I
never fainted from loss of blood, I
can truly say that I was often very
hungry.’
Despite this slight experience,
which he thus humorously burlesqued,
of war’s alarms, Lincoln had the solu
tions of a master strategist for prob
lems which confounded the West
Point men and the students of mili
tary science.
SAFETY OF CAPITAL FIRST
Interesting Letter Written by Presi
dent Lincoln Declining to Rein
force Louisville.
An Important historical letter signed
by Abraham Lincoln while he was
president, and addressed to Gov. O.
P. Morton, was recently sold at auc
tion in Philadelphia. It Is said to be
unpublished, and IS Lincoln's refusal
to reinforce Louisville, Ky., Gov. Mor
j ton having requested him to do so.
! The letter is dated Executive Mansion.
Washington, Sept. 29, 1861. In it Lin
coln says:
“As to Kentucky you do not esti
mate that state as more important
than I do. but I am compelled to watch
all points. While I write this I am.
if not in range, at least in hearing of
cannon-shot, from an army of enemies
more than a hundred thousand strong.
I do not expect them to capture the
city, but know they would, if I were
to send the men and arms from here
to defend Louisville, of which there
is not a single armed soldier within
forty miles, nor any force known to be
moving upqn it from any distance.
“It Is true the army in our front
may make a half circle around south
ward. and move on Louisville, but
when they do we will make a half cir
cle around northward, and meet them,
and in the meantime we will get up
what forces we can from other sources
also to meet them.
“I hope Zolli Koffer has left Cum
berland Gap (through I fear he has
not) because If he has, I rather infer
he did it because of his dread of Camt
Dick Robinson, reinforced from Cin
clnnati. moving on him, than because
of his intention to move on Louisville
But if he does go around and reinforce
Buckner, let Dick Robinson come
around and reinforce Sherman, and
the thing is substantially as it was
when Zolli Koffer left Cumberland
Gap. 1 state this as an illustration
for in fact 1 think, if the Gap is left
open to us Dick Robinson should take
it. and bold It. while Indiana and the
vicinity of Louisville in Kentucky can
reinforce Sherman faster than Zolli
Koffer can Buckner.
"You requested that LL Col. Wood
of the army should be appointed a
brigadier general. I will only say that
very fcrmidcKe objection has been
made to this from Indiana.”
if people would dare to speak to one
another unreservedly there would be
a good deal less sorrow in the world
a hundred years hence.—Samuel But
ler.