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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1894)
10 THE OMATTA DAILY BEE ; SUNDAY , AP11TL 20 , 1891-TWENTY PAGES. IN MODERN SHANGHAI Graphic Fen Pictures of Life in the Great Asiatic Metropolis , PASSING THE STRONG FORTIFICATIONS How Swell roroigne'rs Live and Sport in the Paris of the Pacific. WHEELBARROWS FOR STREET CARS Carp Visits a Big Ohinoso Newspaper Offlco and Gets a Few Tips , - VENERATION FOR THE WRITTEN LANGUAGE A J'ori'lgn City In tlio lli-iirt of Ailn Its lliimlrrdH of Ciilii , TIioiiHiiiuU of Jin- rlkHlui' iiml It I'lTtilhir Cus tom * anil liintlttitloiii. ( Onpyrlfilited 1891 by Prank O. Carpenter. ) SHANGHAI , April 7. ( Special Correspond ence of The Bee. ) It Is now a week since I steamed through the mouth of the great Yang-tse-Klang river Into the wide waters of the Whampoa , on the French mall from Japan , anil was anchored under the shadow of the Immense fortifications which the Chi nese hnvo built nt the Woosung bar to guard this entrance to their mbhty tmp're S nnJ- Ing on the ship I could so ? the guns frown * Ing down upon ns from the ramparts , nnd could almost hear the queer cries of the officers ns they drilled their cotton-gowned , yellow-faced , almond-eyed troops. We lay for some time right opposite the entrance to the fort , a Chinese structure of gold carving , looking much like the gate of n temple , and our vessel was surrounded by the big gun boats of China's modern navy. It Is twelve miles from Woosung up the Whampoa river to Shanghai , but the water Is too shallow for the largest ocean steamers , and wo undo the Journey In n steam launch. The country Is ( Irad flat. It Is made up of the rich sedi ment which Is carried down by the Ynng-tsc- Klang river from the uplands of China. Stnndlng on the deck of the ship you look for miles over gray mud plains , relieved IITC and thcro by what , In the distance , appear for all the world like cocks of hay , but \\hlch GATE TO WOOSUNG FONT. I are the graves of Chinamen. On some of these graves I could see grat black colllns j resting , and I am told that the Chinese often leave their dead for years outside the ground , I and that few burials are made when the ground Is fro/en. Hero and thcro over the landscape were thatched huts surrounded by ? trees , and In the creeks , which cut the plain . like the canals of Holland , the masts of the ships and boats could bo everywhere seen. All along the river were platforms of bnm- j boo , with little sheds at the back of them and ; nets hung out from their fronts Into the water for the catching of fish. Wo passed hundreds of crafts of alt kinds , from the lit tle fat-eyed gondola-like sampans to the ' ocsnn steamers bound for all parts of the world. Near the forts there \\oro scores of great Chinese war Junks , with'cannon ex- Undlng over their sides , nnd with great sails rbbed ( with bamboo , looking for all the world like the wings of glg.uitlc bats , and the , whole river was filled with other bat-like craft , carrying all sorts of cargo to nnd from Shanghai. As for our boat , it was filled with foreign nnd Chinese passengers. The only three Americans wore Mr. nnd Mrs. Curwln Stoddart of Philadelphia nnd myself. My photographer took n snap-shot nt us as we stood on deck with Ah Shlng , the rich Chi- ? nfpo tnllor of Yokohama , who was on his way with his wife and baby to visit his papa / in China. * Till : PAUIS OF THE I3AST. * ' NonrliiR Shanghai is llko sailing Into ono of the great harbors of tlio Mediterranean. / You see n lorolgn city lining the banks of the river nnd the smokestacks of a dozen great factories send out their black clouds Into the blue sky. There are several miles I- of those factories , nnd one I noticed , which ' . covered many acres , was In ruins from a I recent lire. It was a big gray brick of I mnny stories , which the Chinese had built * for the manufacture of cotton nnd In which i for some years they hnvo employed him- 1 ilrerts of hands and had the finest of modern 8 machinery. Until within a few months they have boon paying for Insurance to the j foreign companies about $1,500 a year In 5 Kohl. The fall In the value of silver to | about CO cents on the dollar made them 1 grumble nt this , and when their policy lapsed J lust fall they economized by not renewing ; H. The result was that the llro cost them j Jl.000,000 , nnd as LI Hung Chang and ! others of the olllclnls were largely Interested | in the stock thu people will probably bo I squeezed to make up the loss. Going on up the river through great housollko barges known as opium boats , pa < it a mlle or so of , massive wharves backed by Iron roofed warehouses , almost touching our side- wheeler gunboat , the Monocacy , we landed at the French wharf , and a. moment later were in the greatest foreign settlement of China , the Paris of the east , the city of Shanghai. There Is no town on the globe llko Shang hai. U Is a city of the rich , who , out here on thu shores of Asia , within n stone's throw of the poorest people of thu world , llvo more luxurious lives than do the woulthy people of the United States or Eng land. I speak of the Shanghai of the European and the American. The Chinese who are mixed up In It are as poor or as rich as they are In other parts of the em pire. The foreigners have the right to the land In what la known as the conc.es- n slons. These belong to England , Franco " -unil the United States , and the government Is made up of a council elected by them , BO there Is In reality n little republic , which makes Its own laws , hns UH own police force and manages Its own business liulepondHiit of the celestials. The litnd nominally be longs to the emperor , but It U the prop erty of the foreigners by them paying a cer tain ground rent , which has been Ilxed by treaty , TliU amounts tb about five gold dollars per aero a year. When It was bought It cost something like J200 per acre , but much of U has boon sold for for from JGS.OOO to $100,000 per acre , nil thus made the fortunes of the original holders. Upon It nil sorts of Improve ments have gone up , and along the river there are now as line houses as you will find anywhere In tbo world. Business blocks of Immense size Ho Ju t buck of a beautiful park between the river and the street , nnd n bit ? city ban grown up on the ground owned by the foreigners. Theis are only about n.OOO foreigners , but the for eign settlement contains moro than 200,000 people , the remainder of whom are natives , who like to do business nnd llvp under for eign protection. In addition trj this there Is within a short distance thoiiatlvo city of Shanghai of 123,000. This Is's'surrouniloil by wnlls , nnd It In ns dirty and .U nasty ns nro the Chinese cities of the Interior , where a foreigner hns never been seen. Foreign Shanghai Is a city of electric lights , of newspapers - papers and. of libraries. The subscription llbrnry hero contains 12,000 volumes , nnd the library of the Shanghai club hns moro than 5,000. 5,000.A A TOUCH OF HIGH LIFH. The Shanghai club hns a finer building than nny club House In Washington. It cost $120.000 to bull-1 nnd ruined three con tractors. At noon and In the evening you will meet In It ns cosmopolitan a crowd as you will llnd In New Vork or Purls nnd Its lobby buzzes with n noise which makes you think of the big hotels of Chicago when a national convention H In progress. The foreign settlement Is , In fnct , n city of clubs , CHINESE STREET CAU. nnd thnro Is a racing club , cricket , rifle and yacht clubs nnd about a dozen different Mat - t > onlc associations. There Is n brnss bnnd that gives concerts three times a week dur ing the summer and there nro concerts and dances nlmost every night In the winter. Wnshlngton or New York hns hardly ns mnny entertainments as Shanghai , nnd the people here chase the goddess of pleasure much ns they do In Paris. The city has its swell 400 nnd the turnouts of the rich are driven by Chinamen In livery with nlmond- eyed , long-gowned tigers on the footboards. The horses are generally ) little Chinese ponies , npt much bigger than Newfoundland dogs , but their drivers race them llko mad , nnd with gay harness the miniature baby coupes , landaus and drags are quite Im- prosslve. The conveynnco of the ordlnnry citizen Is the Jnpanese Jlnrlkshn , pulled by ragged , bnre-hendcd coolies , and the Chinese , who wish to ride still cheaper , go about on wheelbarrows , which are a sort of a cross between an American bicycle nnd nn Irish Jaunting car. They nro made of wood with a wheel of about the size of the front wheel of n wagon coming through the center of the bed of the barrow , and u framework extend ing out In front of and behind this , coverIng - Ing the wheel and leaving seats on both sides. The passenger put one foot upon the sent and hangs the other in a stirrup iiirulo of rope of the size of a clothes line tied to the front of the sent and holds on for dear life to the frame , while a coolie pushes the barrow along. If there Is a second passen ger he takes the other side of the barrow and holds on In the same way. Many of these vehicles carry freight and passengers at the same time. I saw ono this morning which was loaded on ono sldo with money In the shape of about a bushel basket of strings of popper cash , while an almond- eyed maiden tried to pull down the other side of the machine with her weight. She were a silk coat and wide silk pantalets which reached to her feet , but whore she put he % foot Into the stirrup I could note her little blue shoo with Its pointed gold toe. It looked more llko a miniature club foot than the real variety. Her leg , which i was wrapped with cloth , was as thin ns a broom handle and showed no sign abpve the ankle of the curve of the calf. She wore n silk cap , out of which her oily black hair peeped at the back , nnd from her oars hung , triangular pendants of green jade. On other barrows I saw Chinese men riding In pairs , incl I met still larger barrows used for the carrying of freight. The pnssonger wheel barrows nlonn In Shanghai number about 3,000 , and there are moro than 3,000 Jln- rlkshas. The prices of both are very low. You can ride to any point In the city on n Jlmlksha for 5 cents , and the wheelbarrow hnckmon got , 1 nm told , about 1 cent a mile. I expect to take a trip on one soon , and will have my photographer tnko me enroute. A CHINESE NE\VSPAPnH. I paid a visit yesterday to the biggest Chinese newspaper In the empire to make I n in I rl os ns to the employment of n Chinese artist to do some native Illustration * for me , and had a most Interesting talk with the manager. The paper Is called the Shun Pao , and It Is the best-paying and most widely circulated of the three natlvo news- pnper dallies of Shanghai. It Is an elght- page sheet of about the size and shape of Frank Leslie's newspaper or Harper's Weekly , printed ou the thinnest of rlco paper. U Is BO light that It does not weigh moro than a man's handkerchief , and so thin that the paper can bo printed ou one uldo only. The paper goes to press In big Hhcots , which arp so folded that the blank side U turned Inward when taken In hand by the subscriber , and so that there Is neither cutting nor pasting. Owing to the thinness of tlio paper. U has a greasy yellow appearance , and It Is printed no closely with Chinese type that not an Inch of space teems to bo wasted. Thb headline or title of the paper consists of two Chinese characters , taking up a space not wider than ono of the columns of our newspapers , and not more than nn Inch In length. It Is a 1-cetit sheet , Its prlco being ten cash , but ns China la on a Oliver basli , this should , In our money , now bo divided by two , nnd Its price would then bo only half a cent. Hut let mo give you my talk with the manager. I went to the offlco without my Interpreter , and my Jlnrlkslm man , nfter driving mo through a series of narrow Chinese streets , In which we had n number of narrow escapes from pony cnba and freight wheelbarrow ) , landed me nt n ragged two- story building , with a side entrance. Over his were large lea-box characters , meaning the naino of tlio paper. I went In nnd mndo my wny to the second story , where I luckily stumbled Into the room of the managing editor. I nddrcsscd him In good plain United States , and found that ho spoke English as well ns I did. I Introduced myself , nnd showed him some letters which I carry from the Stntc department nnd high oinclnls. at Washington. Ho rend them nnd looked nt tlm seals , nnd then bowed low ngaln nnd again , nnd shook his own hands nt mo In Chinese fnshion nnd asked mo to be seated At my request ho took up a copy of his news paper nnd explained It to me , giving mo a number of facts about newjpaicr work among the celestials. "We have , said ho. "tho Inrgest newspaper In China , nnd our dally circulation Is about 12,000. There are two other nntlvc newspapers published In this city , but neither of them makes ns much money or does nsc \ \ aa wo do. Wo nro the oldest , nnd wo have been In existence now twenty-two ycrs. Wo hnvo n good advertising patronage , and the Chinese be lieve In newspaper advertising. Take a look nt the paper nnd you will see that It is pros perous from mi advertising standpoint. I looked at It , but for the llfo of mo 1 could not tell the "ads" from the editorials , and I said so. The editor took It from me nnd said : "This llrst page Is all editorial. Wo don't let any of our advertisers use It. If wo lot ono they would nil want It , and so wo use It only for ourselves when wo have special announcements nnd for editorials nnd news. The second pngo and part of the third page Is news , nnd the nds do not com mence until the Intter part of the pnpor. Wo often have to Issue supplements to get In all our advertising , but our Chinese cus tomers object If wo do not put news nnd reading matter In the supplement as well. You note the lines run up and "down the page Instead of across it nnd the beginning is at the right of the page Instead of the left , as with you. Our lines * nro nbout fif teen Inches long and we count by the word ; not by the lino. Each Chinese character represents a word , nnd our rates nro 5 cents for onch ten characters for the first Insertion , 3 cents when the ndvcrtlsement runs for a week nnd 216 cents a day per each ten words for all tlmo nfter tlint. " HOW IT CIRCULATES. "Aro there many papers in China nnd do you find them In the Interior ? " I asked. "No , " replied the Chinese editor. "We circulate all over China , but you do not find papers published In the native cities. The governors would not permit them , ns the editors might say things they would not llko , and mnny ol them would not want their doings criticised or reported. The Chinese are very economical. Money Is worth a great deal hero. We charge , for Instance , 10 cents cash for this paper and wo hnvo In reality n circulation of at least 50,000 , though wo print only 12,000 papers. " "How Is that ? " said I. "Tlip paper Is resold nnd rented by the subscribers and others , so that nt least that many heads of fnmllles get hold of It. Wo pay our newsboys 2 cash a copy for sell ing , or , rather , we sell them the papers , so that we get 8 cash out of the 10. They receive In your money Just nbout one-tenth of a cent for Boiling nnd delivering the pnper. Well ! they cheat the regular cus tomers often by renting the paper for C or 7 cash to outsiders till 11 or 12 o'clock , when they will como around and get It and deliver It. We can't prevent this here. Then dif ferent shops subscribe for the Shun Pao nnd their customers como In regularly every morning and read it. Families pass It from ono to the other , subscribing together for It , and thcro are men who make a business of going nbout day after day and buying up old and clean newspapers of the subscribers to carry them out In the country districts to sell. So- you see every nowspjper reaches nt least n half dozen persons or families be fore It Is burned. " All of the unsold copies of the Shun Pno ore burned by the ofllco. The Chinese rev erence literature BO that they think It a sin to use ns wrapping paper or In any common way anything written or printed in Chinese , nnd nlong the streets of the Chinese cities , fnstened to the wnlls of the houses , you find little boxes filled with written scrnps , which the pnssersby pick up whenever they chance to fall upon the street , to prevent the char acters from being defiled. In Chinese houses , Instead of pictures , you find often long scrolls containing a sentence of classic Chinese beautifully written , and the literati often write to each other In poetry. SALARIES AND WAGES PAID. I saw such scrolls In the little room of the dramatic critic of the Shun Pao , as I walked through the ofllces with the man ager and was Introduced to the editors. The city editor was a fat Chinese gentle man In tortoise shell spectacles , the glasses of which were ns big as a trade dollar , who were a blue silk gown and a black cap with a rod button on It. Ho was surrounded by his long-gowned reporters , to whom he was giving the assignments of the day , and he told mo that he would be on duty till 3 ( /clock In the morning , when the paper would go to press. I next visited the com posing rooms nnd took a look at the print ers. There were , perhaps , a dozen at work , and I was told that their wages were from $1.50 to $3 a week In silver , equal to 75 cents and $1.50 In our currency. The editors get from $35 to $10 a month , and reporters from $ S to $10 a month In silver , according to their efficiency. The printers do night and day work for seven days In the week nnd SCO days In the year at these wages , and It takes no slight learning to be a Chinese printer. There are In the Chinese language 13,000 different characters , and each of the cases I saw In this composing room , the editor told mo , contained about CITY EDITOR AND HIS STAFF. 10,000 different characters. Think of that , ye printers of America , nnd thank Qed you were born In a land whore the alphabet con tains only twenty-six letters , nnd whore there Is not a different sign for every word In the language , In a Chinese printing of flco the cases are ton times as big as ours , and each printer stands surrounded by three walls of type , running from his feet to the top of his head and sloping out from him on all sides. After a look at the business offlco of the newspaper , I was shown the only Illustrated paper In China , which Is also Issued from this establishment. It Is published every ten days , U Is about as big as nn old- fashioned almanac , and It always appears In red or green covers. U publishes many descriptions of life In America , and Its pic tures of foreigners nnd tholr ways are laughable In the extreme. There Is no per spective shown In the drawings and the Chinese stories are full of blood and thun der , of sentiment and humor. Hero the Chinese Homeo woos his almond-eyed Juliet , and there the tragedies of love , abduction , of crlmo and superstition are depleted by the Qlllama and Remingtons of this celestial land. FRANK 0. CAHPENTI3K. THE GRAND ARMY OF LABOIi I - ! Odda with Which th'p 'Ijbcal Coopers Unfoi Has Ilati to Contend , BETTER TIMES SEEtf TO BE COMING I.OUR nnil Uiinl riRht .fgnlmt IVnltrntlnrj Sliulo ( lomli I'l-d ri'ini < > f tlio Intonm- tlniml Unicorn" Union 1'rorrrilit of Working ( llrl ' ° Iliill l.ithor Notes. Coopers union No. 10 of Omaha Is con sidered one of tlio pioneer unions of tlio city nnd the struggle or tills union for existence during tlio past three years 1ms boon one that would have discouraged ninny men Iti other departments of labor. No class ol laboring men hns suffered moro from the competition of convict labor during thai time. Tlio extremely low prices quoted for flnlshcd goods that were the product of con vict labor has had the effect of lowering the wages of men nt the cooper's trade and In many cases compelled honest worklngmon to leave the city or work nt something else. It Is estimated that three years' tlmo Js re quired to properly learn the coopers' trade , and after men hnve spent that much tlmo In learning the trade It Is very disagreeable and unsatisfactory to them to be compelled to look to some other calling to make a living. The local union has at various times undertook to operate a co-operntlvo factory with the hope that the business men of ( lie city would see the benefits to bo derived from a patronage of honest workers nt liv ing wages , but in every Instance the peni tentiary made goods have had the effect of driving the union out of business entirely. All members of the union speak well of Mr. John Powers , who , they claim , has always stood by the men of their trade , nnd would nuver ask them to work for nn amount be low the union scale. Had It not been for the competition of ponltcntlnry made barrels , kegs , tierces , etc. , It li quite piobnble that Mr. I'owers and other employers would nt the present time bo giving remunerative employment to several hundred men of this trade In Omaha today. "It Is absolutely Impossible .or us to cprnpcto with convict labor , " said ono of the members of the union to n reporter of The Hoe , "from the fnct that the convicts work for nothing and It Is well known that while Moshcr had the contract at Lincoln ho ctolc the money from the state to purchase material , and as he got the labor for nothing It was very easy for him to undersell any honest manufacturer who bought his material with his own money and paid tlio union scale. " This fnct as stated has had the effect of working up a strong sentiment against the penitentiary ring at Lincoln and the workers of all trades declare that the convict labor system must be changed so ns not to prevent honest men from earning nn honest living. The local coopers' union has taken a stand upon the question nnd has lately asked the Central Labor union to aid In the cause. The committee on homo Industry of the Cen tral Labor union has 'been very successful so far In getting a number of the business men Interested In behalf of the union and has already secured an agreement from some of the breweries to hereafter use none but union made cooperage goods. It now has started a movement to try to get the South Omaha packing houses to sign such an agreement , nnd If the committee Is success ful It will be a great victory for the local coopers' union , which has been striving very- hard under disadvantageous circumstances for a mere existence , This union also pro poses to take an acjlve part In the coming legislative campaign nnd see what It can do toward electing men who will use their In fluence In the Intercast of , organized labor In stead of the ponltcntlnry. ring. Working OlrlH Coiliitlni ; Profits. The Working Glrjs Kijlghts of Labor as sembly of Omaha | ield. a meeting Friday night In their hall on Fourteenth street to straighten up accounts after their dance. It was found that the assembly had cleared something over $30 for the treasury. This was considered n very satisfactory amount and all the girls seemed pleased. They ex pressed a desire to attend the May party to bo given by the mattress makers assembly nnd , It Is said , quietly hinted this fact to some of the young men who visited their meeting "to see how much money was made. " Mr. Michael Nelson took an active part In helping the girls make a success of their dance and will most likely see that at least ono of the members has the pleasure of attending the May party , so It Is rumored In labor circles. This assembly holds regu lar meetings every Friday evening In Knights of Labor hall , where visiting members are always welcome. It has always done Its full share In charitable work and Is consid ered ono of the banner labor organizations of the city. Intrrimtloiml linkers Union. % Local members of the International Bakers and Confectioners union report that the union Is growing very fast throughout the country the present year and predict that 1895 will find their organization ono of the foremost In the nation. As a rule , bakers have been regularly employed and received fairly good wages , but the present business depression 'has reached members of the bakers' trade as well as all other workers and this fact has caused them to seek relief through organization. Their International union Is reported to bo In better condition now than at any previous time In Its exist ence , all of which goes to show that work lngmon seek to organize ns soon as their in terests are noticeably affected. The history of this union Is the history of many others which have Increased their membership since the panic commenced. I.nbor Notes. Shoemakers struck for an advance at Lynn , Mass. Packers and nailers have struck at Minne apolis. All union bookbinders In Buffalo are em ployed. The London Trades council has 200,000 members. The National Bookbinders union has thirty- two locals. The government pays proof , readers C3 cents an hour. Grand Rapids unions have decided to go Into politics. AH window glass , workers In America belong - long to the union. ' ' Los Angelea unions tjave decided to es tablish n labor library. The state trade and labor assembly of Ohio favors political action. May day will be celebrated In many cities of the United Stated' ' Indianapolis carpeiher ? and joiners struck against 25 cents an ijpur. A federated central labor union has been organized In Now Hampshire. Ono of the cigar maters unions In Balti more has $3,200 In Its treasury. Walking delcgates iihYO organized a society In New York City and Jlrooklyn. Fall Rlvor has jjob'union weavers , and about one-third of tlieiri are Idle. A co-operative glass works Is now run ning on full tlmo aL.Ileavor Falls. Buffalo unions haVd a'labor ' play which will bo given for the first1 tlmo May 1. The International Bakers union has or ganized four cities lnco January 1. The cigar makers union nt Utlca , N , Y. , 1ms established a co-operatlvo factory. Labor unions In Now York state favor municipal ownership of street railways. The Metal Workers Protective union will demand an eight-hour day after May 1. Union printers at Detroit will bo fined $5 If they patronlzo n theater there which Is boy cotted. The union printers at Fargo have pur chased a newspaper plant and wll run a labor paper. , The Nebraska State Federation of Labor will meet In Grand Island the second Monday In July. Silk ribbon weavers and dyers are on a strike at Patcrson , N. J. , against u re duction , The painters unions of New York City ars fighting ono another. Nothing pleases the bosses bettor. The tntcrnntlonnl linkers nnd Confectioners union will hold Its eighth annual convention In Juno at Baltimore. Ono hundred cigar makers wont out of Foster & Co.'s factoryln New York rather than accept a reduction. A mass meeting will bo held In Knights o Labor hnll this afternoon at 2 o'clock to discuss the labor question The local building trades council elected ofllcers nt the meeting held In Knights of Labor hnll Friday evening. Tailors union No. 92 nettled Its differ ences with Its employers by agreeing to sub mit Its case to arbitration. The cap makers of New York City hnvo won their strike against n reduction. Only three establishments wcro Involved. Local labor leaders are proposing to or ganize a "recruiting force" to bo known ns the "homo guards" of Coxey'a nrmy. South Omaha Is coming to the front In labor circles. Four now unions have been organl/ed there by the Central Labor union organization committee. On account of n proposed reduction In wages nil the press feeders nnd tenders walked out from the American Lithograph company's works of Now York. The strike of the coal miners Is becoming general. If It continues long It will dis turb the running of n number of factories that use the product of the mines. Knights of Labor will orgnnlzo nn assem bly of workers In Beatrice to bo composed of those who are In sympathy with the cause of labor from an organized standpoint. The Omaha bakers have organized n now union under No. 121. Messrs. Henry Occt , Andrew Beck and Peter Koken have been elected to represent the new union In the Omaha Central Labor union. Shoo workers of New York hold a mass meeting to discuss the labor question. Speeches were made against the passage of the Wilson bill and asking ttlmt congress legislate on something else beside the tariff. MY FIHSF AND LAST BATT.LE , lly IMvvanl i\rrctt : llulc. ( Copyrighted 1S3I. ) For three years of the civil war I had been closely connected with the sanitary commission of Massachusetts and of the United States. The commission had It for its duty to keep the people at home In touch with the army. It tried to keep alive the enthusiasm of the people for the soldiers , nnd It tried to make the soldiers under stand that they were not forgotten by the nation. In the correspondence and other work connected with the sanitary I had oc casion to visit Fort Monroe In the spring of 1SG4 , nnd wns most cordially nnd cour teously received theio by Gcnernl Duller. I was his guest at his house , and , with re gard to some Interesting tilings In the move ment of the war , I learned a great deal which wns very curious from him. When we parted I said to him , "It will not belong long before you will see me ngnln. I shall bo drafted some day , nnd ns I present arms to you as n sentinel you will remember your old guest. " Ho asked if I could not stay then , and said he would put mo to work. But I had home duties In hand. I was not surprised , therefore , when , after General IJutlor by a well planned surprise had taken up his position at Uermuda Hun dred , where the Appomattox and James rivers Join each other , to receive n telegram from his chief of staff , saying simply , "Como on nt once. Wo are more successful than our best hopes. " At that time , the begin ning of May , 1S64 , the chances were good for the combined armies going , separately or together , Into Richmond. Alas , it was a year before this happened ! Hut I made nt once nrrangemonts to join the headquarters staff , with which I was now intimate , nnd I went on , with a fortnight's leave of ab sence from my work at home. As I passed through Washington , where we wore all nt home in the war , I went to the War department , where the ndjutnnt general wns nn old classmate of mine. I was no stranger there then , and so It hap pened that he gave me n dispatch for Gen eral Hutler. This elevated mo at once In the esteem of all chiefs of transportation , giving me I do not know how much power , but great prestige whenever I needed it. I went down to Fort Monroe at once , where I found only one or two of the gentlemen of the staff , chafing because they were not at the front ; and on the government steamer of the next day I went up to Bermuda Hun dred. dred.Wo Wo were rather more than half way up when we were arrested for a little by the sound of firing on , the shore. It proved that this was one of the days when Fltzhugh Lee had attempted to cut oft General Butler's river communications. He had at tacked the field works which we had on the south side of the river. As It happened these works were held by negroes recruited In Virginia , and this was one of the earlier trinls of those troops. After a little delay on this account wo pressed on , nnd , .Just nbout at nightfall , arrived at the crowded water front of Bermuda Hundred. The whole army of 25,000 men had ar rived there suddenly a fortnight before , ns If It had fallen from the bitles. In that tlmo wharves and landing places had been Improvised with marvelous rapidity , and , although thcro was endless con fusion , still things seemed to go forward with the kind of energy which marks the work of a well disciplined nrmy. For me , I was as Igitcrant as a freshman Is on enter ing college what I was to do. I know that Gcnernl Butler and his staff were six or seven miles away , I knew that night was falling , and I did not know how I was to go to him. Fortunately for mo , as I thought , there was on the boat n member of his staff , with whom I had some acquaintance , and I relied upon htm to help mo through. When wo landed , however , ho was out of the way , and I could not llnd him. I suspected that ho did not care to embarrass himself with a civilian , and was Intentionally keeping out of sight. I therefore did what I nlways do In llfo struck na high ns I could. I said to the sentinel that I was a bearer of dispatches , and nskcd him the way to the headquarters of the commander of that post. I wish I remembered this gentleman's name , so well did lie Illustrate the courtesy and prompt ness of a man In command. Ho tnld at once that his own orderly should go with mo to General Butler ; that he would lend mo his own horse , and would send my vallso on the ambulance the next morning. So the horse was saddled , and about the time when It became dark the soldier and I btartcd on our way. Ho know no moro of the way than I did , and a very bad way It was. I made my first acquaintance with the sacred soil of Virginia then and there. Wo lost ourselves sometimes , nnd then wo found ourselves , the greater part of the road being the worst possible country road , all cut to pieces by the heavy army work , through -woods , not of largo trees , but which were close enough on both sides to darken the passage. It was 9 o'clock or later when wo saw the welcome tight of the headquarters camp flics , Wo rode up and I Jumped from my horse to shako hands with General Uutlor , Colonel Shaffer and the other gentlemen. They asked Instantly how wo had passed the batteries. I told the story , and General Butler , who was always effusively polite , and to his other gracious ways ndded exquisite facility In ( lattery , said to mo : "Wo are greatly obliged to you , Mr. Halo. I have been very anxious for two or three hours. I was afraid my dispatches were cut off. " I had already handed to him the utterly unim portant letter from the War department , which had been my talisman thus far. Then and thcro I llrnt heard uoldlors talk of what had been done and what had not been done In that day. I know beforehand that In the push towards Richmond wo had been ( lung back at Fort Darling. I did not know till I cnmo there exactly how tbo command was impressed by tbo delay. Hut In the headquarters circle I found nothing but confidence , nnd I very soon saw that I was to understand that wo should have taken Richmond but for the heavy fog of the day of the battle and some other In felicities. I think now that this Is probably truo. The fires wore kept burning , and wo sat and chatted there hour after hour. When wo had been there perhaps two hours , up came my friend of the general's staff , and , with suf ficient profanity , exorcised the roads over which ho had ridden. Ho had never boon thcro before. General Butler heard him through , and then Bald : "Hut hero Is Mr. Halo , who has boon hero two hours. The soldier turned on mo , a little crestfallen , all the other members of the staff gulllclcntly amused , and ho asked me , with another oath , how I found the way. I eald : "We followed the telegraph wire , " and from that J For this week we have an ex ceptional showing of Body Brussels. Victoria , Bigelow , Lowell and Hartford makes in the most artistic designs and at prices lower than ever ; these are goods that pay to buy ; the choicest $1.15 per yard. 50 pieces of these best makes without borders at 90c per yard. 1 mm if lei w aiacl 18 Douglas St. day I was rather n favorite with the staff for this civilian snub on a gentleman who was not a favorite. Meanwhile somebody had been ordered to pitch a tout for me , and , I suppose , about 11 o'clock I went to bed In my new quarters. I had slept nn hour , .however , ns It proved , when I was awakened by the firing of can non. I hail never heard such firing ; It pioved nfterwards they were the heaviest guns which I have ever heard in my life. Of course , I wanted to Jump up , but I said to myself , "It will seem very green If I walk out on the first sound of firing. I suppose this Is whnt I came to the front for. II they want me they will call me , nnd I shall hear firing enough before I have done. " So I turned over nnd tried to go to sleep did go to sleep nnd was wakened ugaln by louder nnd louder firing. All this lasted , I suppose , perhaps an hour. Then all was stlli , and I wont to sleep for the night. You nre wakened In camp. If you arc at a mnjor general's , by the bugles of his cavalry escort , and the next morning I heard their reveille , also for the first time. I washed myself , was already dressed , of course , and , in a little while , nn orderly told me that breakfast was ready. I met at breakfast Captain Laurie , a flue old offi cer of the navy , whom I had known a llttlo In Boston. Ho said to mo , "And how did you like our firing last night , Mr. Halo ? " I said that to mo , as a civilian , it heenied very loud , but I supposed that that wns what I had como to the war fcr , and I did not get up from my b.od. Laurie answered , ns If ho would rcbuko me for my Ignorance , "I have been In the service thirty-nine years , and I never heard such llrlng be fore. " I found then , for the first time , that the whole staff had been up and on horse back , had been nt the front to try to find out whnt this firing wns , nnd had returned nlmost ns much perplexed as they came. It was thus that It happened to me that I spent my first and last battle in bed. I was acting on the principle of doing the duty which came next my hand and obeying all the orders which were given to me. I had not run away ; I was pleased with that. And If I had not personally received the surrender of .threo or four battle flags that was my misfortune. I had occasion afterwards to hear much of the testimony and to read all the rest of it , which related to this remarkable bat tlo. If you will read the history of the time , as told in the Richmond newspapers and those of New York City , nnd will put them together , you will learn that on that night a reconnolsanco was sent out from our lines Into the tangled shrubbery which separated our nowly-bullt works from those of the rebels. You will learn that the rebel guns mowed down these columns as torn Is mowed down before a tempest. Or , If you read a northern newspaper , you will learn that certain columns of the rebel troops , who were named , were worse than decimated by similar artillery from our works. Every word of this was entirely false. In fact , thcro was n very heavy cannonading from the newly created works on both sides. As I have said , It lasted an hour. Much of It was from heavy guns , which had been landed -Cram the navy to strengthen the battery which wo had near the river. But , as the result of It , thcro was never any evidence that a rabbit was scratched ; cer- tutnly no drop of human blood was shed In that encounter of giants. How It happened so Into In the evening I do not know. But what happened was this : A party of ladles had been entertained on board one of our ships of war. As they loft , nn olllcer , with the gnllantry of his profes sion , asked ono of the Indies if she would llko to see how n gun wns fired , and , to do pleasures to her , fired one of the guns Into the darkness. At that moment everything wns on the qul vivo nshore , nnd our land battery men , eager for something to do , tlndlng that ono shot was fired , thought nnnthor hud let ter bo fired , nnd continued the firing. This started the successive artillerists for nearly a mlle , HH our works ran up Into the country towards the Appomattox river , nnd not to bo bolnted or accused of sleepiness , they began firing In turn. Of course this roused the equally ready artillerists on the rebel uldo and they fired , I suppose , at the flashes which they eaw a mlle or two away. And this wan the famous cannonade which made the whole of my first battle. The naval olllcors were dreadfully morti fied , our gentlemen at headquarters were In dignant beyond account , and the thing almost came to courts martial and courts of In quiry. But It was wisely thought better to leave the record of It to be made , at the end of thirty years , by the only person who wns nt nil concerned , who spent the hour of the battle In his bed under canvas. Llttlo pills for great Ills : DoWltt'a Llttlo Early Risers. City workers In London got union wages. IS THE BEST. RELIEVES PROMPTLY ind CURES QUICKfST , \ \ THE JEWEL GRAND. 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