LITTLE GIFFEN OF TENNESSEE
Out of the focal and foremost fire ;
Out of the hospital's walls ns dire ;
Smitten of grape-shot and gangrene ;
Eighteenth battle , and he sixteen ;
Soectre such as you seldom see ,
Little Giffen of Tennessee.
"Take him and welcome 1" the surgeon said ;
"Much your doctor can help the dead ! "
And so wn took him , and brought him where
The balm was sweet on the summer air ;
And wo laid him down on a wholesome bed ;
Utter Lazarousl From heel to head.
And we watched the war with bated breath ,
Skeleton boy and skeleton death I
Months of torturot How many such ?
Weary weeks of stick and crutch ;
But still a glint of the steel blue eye ,
Told of a spirit that wouldn't die.
And didn't I Nay morel In death's despite
The crippled skeleton learned to write ,
"Dear Mothorl" at first , of course , and then ,
"Dear Captain I" inquiring about the men ;
Captain's answer "of eighty and live
Giffen and I are left alive ! "
Words of gloom , from the war , one daj :
"Johnson's pressed at the front , they say ; "
Little Giffen was up and away.
A tear ; the first , as he bade good-byo ,
Dimmed the glint of the steel blue eye ;
"I'll write if spared. " There was news of
flRht ,
But none of Giffen. He did not write.
I sometimes think , that were I King ,
Of the princely knights , with their golden
ring ,
With the song of the minstrel in my ear
And the tender legend that trembles here ,
I'd give the best on his bended knee ,
Aye ! the whitest soul of my chivalry
For little Giffen of Tennessee.
Col. Elias P. Boudinet.
Railroad com
TRUST IN bination , or , as it
RAILROADS. is now called ,
"community of in
terests , " is making rapid progress. The
press and the stock market indicate that
the absorption of the O. B. & Q. by the
Morgan - Hill - Harrimau syndicate is
about accomplished , and the deal will ,
undoubtedly , be followed by others. The
only apprehension from such colossal
transaction is that of over doing. It
is possible to over-amalgamate , as much
now , as it was in 1880 , to overdo railway
construction , and it is to be hoped that
none of the deals , being put through will
be so gigantic that they will cause .finan
cial indigestion.
The consolidation of railroads has
been progressing steadily and surely
ever since railways were created. The
Burlington , the Atchison , the North
western , and other large systems , are
only a large number of small lines
merged into one big one.
Notwithstanding these federations of
railways , no evil effect has been notice
able to the public , either in rates , ser
vice , or wages , but , to the contrary ,
rates have reduced , ( they are lower in
America than anywhere else in the
world ) , the service has been wonderfully
improved , and is not equalled in the
universe , while the railroad employe of
this country draws better wages , on the
t.
average , than any other artisan in the
world.
Big railways stand more in awe of
public opinion , are easier to trade with
and , as a rule , are better and more in
telligently managed , and deal with the
public and their employes on broader lines
than small ones , and , it seems to the
writer , that unification of ownership
offers no objections.
The one thing the country is most in
need of is the abolition of preferential
rates , discriminations against small
towns and small shippers , and stability
in freight rates. This one thing will
offset any disadvantage that occurs to
us that may be cited against federation.
CREMATION.
The Bt. Rev. Henry O. Potter , Bishop
of New York , says :
"I have no prejudice , unfavorable to
cremation , and indeed , in view of the
curiously inadequate and singularly un
intelligent arguments , attacks and de
nunciations which have been employed
by those who ore hostile to it , I have
been rather disposed to sympathize with
those who are seeking to introduce it.
But the argument of most effect , in
its behalf is one which must be made
by scientific men , and especially by
physicians. I wait to hear more expli
citly and more fully from these , for
when it can be shown that any such
plan best conduces to the health and
well-being of large communities , it will
be likely to find general acceptance. * *
* * I have long been in hearty sym
pathy with the effort to promote the
practice of cremation , which the growth
of population , and the growth of cities
of the dead , in the neighborhood of large
communities , makes , in my judgment a
sanitary precaution of great value ; and
I heartily agree with the Bishop of
Manchester , in his view of the utter
irrelevancy of any so-called Christian
objections to it , which are usually wit
nesses to great ignorance or great stu
pidity. "
The Rt. Rev. Wm. Lawrence , Bishop
of Massachusetts , says :
"The condition of many old graveyards ,
the neglect of tombs and their possible
desecration , are a shook to a reverent
spirit. All the details of incineration
are consistent with reverence. "
TheRt. Rev. David H. Greer , New
York , says :
* * * "I am in sympathy with the
object which you have in view , and
look with favor upon cremation as a
substitute for interment. The objec
tions to it are , in my judgment , wholly
sentimental , and must in time give way
to more rational considerations. "
The Bishop of Manchester , says :
"No intelligent faith can suppose that
any Christian doctrine is affected by
the manner in which , or the time in
which , this mortal body of ours crumb
les into dust. "
Francis E. Willard said :
"I have the purpose to help forward
progressive movements , even in my
latest hours , and hence , hereby decree
that the earthly mantle which I shall
drop ere long , when my real self passes
onward to the world unseen , shall bo
swiftly enfolded in the flames and ren
dered powerless , harmfully to affect the
health of the living. Let no friend of
mine say aught to prevent the crema
tion of my cast-off body. The fact that
the popular mind has not come to this
decision renders it all the more my duty ,
who have seen the light , to stand for it
in death , as I have sincerely meant in
Life to stand by the great cause of poor ,
oppressed humanity.
Mrs. J. O. Croly ( "Jennie June" ) says :
"I am heartily in sympathy with cre
mation , considering such disposition of
human remains as the wisest , cleanest ,
most healthful and economical method
of disposing of what is no longer of any
use , and must in time become a positive
source of injury. If graveyards con
tinue to be filled , the cities of the dead
will in time become more populous than
the cities of the living , and will threaten
the existence of populous communities.
Justice to the living , and the sentiment
we cherish for the dead , seem to me
best satisfied by the quick diffusion of
the shell , they no longer inhabit , and the
possession of that in-urned residuum ,
which like a lock of hair or the remnant
of a robe they have worn , we may keep
and guard. "
Mrs. Lippincott ( "Grace Greenwood" )
says :
"I have given a great deal or serious
thought to the subject of cremation ,
and heartily endorse all movements in
that direction. The world , even the
Christian world , must come to it finally
though it denounce it now ever so
sternly as "a heathen custom. " The
world must come to it , or see the aboveground -
ground living poisoned by their under
ground dead.
For economic as well as sanitary
reasons I would advocate cremation. I
saw much of the working of the system
at Milan ; saw that it took a great
burden of care and expense from poor
families , bereaved and left in straight
ened circumstances. Surely , it is the
simplest , the surest and purest manner
of rendering "ashes to ashes" of giving
back our mortal part to the immortal
elements. "
Kate Field said :
"Cremation is not only the healthiest
and cleanest , but the most poetical way
of disposing of the dead. Whoever
prefers loathsome worms to ashes pos
sesses a strange imagination. I have in
my will made express provision for the
cremation of my body , in such terms as
no friend or foe of mine would think of
disregarding , even after I am dead.
"I am a cremationist because earth
burial poisons earth , air and water , and
consequently breeds disease among the
living. Much of what is called malaria
is nothing more nor less than the result
of cemetery gases , generated in the
vicinity. Many a New England town is
now subject to zymotic diseases , because
the inhabitants are drinking up their