The Texas Sun. (Richmond, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 6, Ed. 1 Saturday, February 17, 1855 Page: 2 of 4
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
/
/
THE TEXAS
*i n
I
L r
I ¿
II
e
H
i
! }'
Í
H
is
jr
f
rUARY 17, 1855.
.— The Texas San com-
of eight hundred,
ncuhftoNTenl
1855.
Af ti for the 8n. ,
John A. Hancock, Esq., Houston.
Col. Wm. T. Austin, 6a dveston.
Brown k, Griffin, Autin.
Hon. A. J. Bell, BeDrUle.
Tho*. O. Masterson, Brazoria.
N. W. Faison, La Grange.
Jas. T. Cole, Belton-
D. D. Crmnpler, Brenham.
Jo*. C. Herndon, Western Texas.
, Wm. Marshall, Baltimore City, Md.
Henry Hiden, Orange C. H., Vs.
■ W. B. Okeson, Springfield, Limestone
Coaaty, Texas.
, Wm. Chilton, Tyler, Texas.
See first page for our remarks to ad-
vtrtiters, circulation of the Sun, rate and
term of advertising, &c.
Mr. James Burke will please excuse us
fyt not publishing his letter from Houston,
We are glad that he entertains such an ex-
alted opinion of the Sun, but his letter is too
lettering and personal to appear in our col
Phil, our old elasámate at college, makes
his appearance in our columns this week.—
Me mast excuse us for publishing this letter,
at it was doubtless penned for our perusal
ealy. We have some six or eight corres-
pondents in the old States, who hare prom
¡sed to give, through the columns of the Sun,
prwinopmUico, the treasures of highly ed-
neated minds. Communications from such
a source will at all times be welcome.
Gen. Busk will accept our thanks for a
copy'of the Report of the Secretary of the
Treasury, on the state of the Finances of
the United States.
The Texas Conference of the Methodist
Church, at its last session, determined to
take immediate steps towards the establish-
ment of a College equal in rank and facili-
ties to the best institutions in the older
States, affording the means of a thorough
classical and scientific course of instruction.
To accomplish this object a Board of Com
misskmers was appointed to meet in Galves-
ton on the first Monday in April next, for
the purpose of locating said institution;
and propositions will then and there be re-
ceived and-considered, from points asking
to be the seat of said college. The circum-
stances that Will' influence the Board in fa-
Tor of any point will be—
1st. Health.
—Üt AwinwiliiKi/. ——-
3d. Character of surrounding country and
'4th. The amount of subscription that may
'he relied on for the construction of buildings
and the creation of an endowment fund.
Can any town, or locality even, meet al
^these circumstances as well—not to say bet-
ter, than Biehmond t We know that mali-
cious reports have been circulated all over
Texas in regard to the health of this place,
and that rival towns have long sought to
make this impression; but the facts of the
^ase tell a very different tale. There have
been but two deaths here—one an adult and
the other a child, since the epidemic of 1853.
If any other town in Texas containing up-
wards of €00 inhabitants, can make a more
favorable health report for 1854, than this
we wffl concede the point as regards health.
The epedemie of '53 should not enter into
the account at all, for the yellow fever pre-
vailed that year in the " piney woods" of
. Mississippi and Louisiana, in places prover-
bial for their health and where a case of
had never before appeared within the re-
collection of man. And in addition to this
fact, Houston and Galveston both suffered
severely from it last summer, while we were
not called upon to chronicle a tingle death
during the urhole summer, from any cause,
much let from yellow fever.
In the second place, what point in Texas
is more accessible, prospectively, than our
dty t The only railroad with cars running
upon it, in the State will soon be completed
here; and placing that out of consideration
we have the same advantages from river
navigation that any other point can boast of.
An additional reason for locating this insti-
tution here, is that it may command the pa-
tronage of the coast and river planters.—
Locate the institution high up in the moun-
tains, and it will be beyond their reach.
In the third place, all who have ever vis-
ited old Fort Bend county, know that its
population is equal to that of any county in
the State, in wealth and intelligence.
Fourthly, some idea may be formed
their disposition and willingness to encourage
every enterprise of this kind, from the spir-
it and seal with which they have heretofore
prosecuted their public works. The commo-
dious academic building which was built en
tiroly by private subscription; the Masonic
fi.11 built by the Masons of Biehmond at
cost of 910,000; the grading of the Har-
risburg Railroad—all these improvements
reflect the highest honor upon our citizens,
and speak volumes to those abroad, for the
energy and enterprise of Richmond.
. Houston Lyceum.
])y Jut muTwe received a complimentary
ticket and invitation to attend the first An
nual Benefit Ball of the above association
to be given in Houston on the 22d of Feb-
nuuy. We are not insensible to the com-
pliment conveyed in the letter of invitation
from one of the managers, and if Richmond
declines the field on this occasion, we will
•hdly avail ourself of this opportunity to
fahivate the acquaintance of the fair ones of
«V sister city. Any gentleman of our ac-
quaintance, who wishes to attend this ball,
¿i receive a card of invitation upon appli-
cation at our office.
of
We are to have railroad conventions
again. Delegates are expected to meet at
Grange in a few days to devise some
way of building 'a railroad up thé Colorado.
'¡Ve see among the delegates appointed from
< lalveston, such men as S. M. Williams,
lobert Mills, Gen. Nichols, and others. If
such men would attend, they would tell them
exactly how to build roads, but they will
not be there. They are the last men who
go. They would tell them that railroads
cannot be built now, up and down the Colo-
rado and Brazos vallies, without raising from
one-third, to one-half the capital at home,
with the land bonus thrown in; that even
then, the company cannot borrow money
until there is an outlay of capital, and more
than all, the capitalist must be satisfied that
his money will be honestly spent and in a
work that will be useful and profitable.—
There are several roads in Texas that can
be built on the above basis when times are
easier and money can be raised, in the
country, hut the present is a most inauspi-
cious period, as will be found when it comes
to raising the money. The Colorado valley
road will be one of the best in the State,
and must and will be one of the first to be
built.—Houston Telegraph.
Yes, Mr. Old Fogy of the Telegraph, we
are going to have another Railroad Conven-
tion—not another Walker and King hum-
bug, but a bona fide convention held by the
people themselves for the people's benefit;
and you need not try to apron Young Amer-
ica, telling him " boys ought to be seen and
not heard," while he manifests such an ex-
uberance of spirits, and longs to test the
fleetness of his newly-roped Mustang, in a
race with the Iron Horse over wide-extended
prairies. This cry of " wait, wait, wait," is
an old song with yon, and sounds like
thrice-told tale, " full of sound and fury, sig-
nifying nothing." You doubtless sung this
same old song when the terminus of onr
Road was fixed at Harrisburg, instead of
Houston; and like the little schoolboy, hav-
ing memorized it, yon now hate to give it up,
because it comes easy and so natural. You
-made a great flourish a week or two ago,
about having been successful in getting iron
upon very favorable terms, for some twenty-
five or thirty miles of your railroad, which
does not harmonize with what yon now
write upon the subjeet, unless we bear in
mind that Houston is interested in that road
and opposed to the Colorado.
You also seem entirely ignorant of the
aims and objects of the La Grange Conven-
tion. We were not aware before that this
Convention would be called on to borrow
money, or to make any contract with cap-
italists to build the Colorado Road. There-
fore your remarks upon these points arc pre-
mature, and altogether inapplicable. More-
over, we know not whether yon speak ex
cathedra, when you say, "Williams,.Mills,
and Nichols will not be there." Are these
gentlemen opposed to our roed 1 We hope
not, for we had expected much efficient aid
from our Galveston friends when the time
for commencing the road arrived. But,
while we would be sorry to see such men
lending their influence to counteract the
zeal and spirit of our planters, it is much bet-
ter that we should know their position now
than to be deceived when their aid is wanted.
As the primary object of this Convention is
to fix upon some route between the Brazos
and Colorado—and not to borrow money or
make contracts, we doubt very much whether
any one of the three gentlemen named above
would be able to exert as much influence in
determining the route as one of our Colorado
or Upper Brazos planters. Nor are we
aware that any one of these gentlemen has
more practical knowledge on the subject of
roailroads, than our planters generally.
But you make a singular confession in
concluding your railroad remarks. "The
Colorado road," you say " will be one of the
best in the State, and must and will
be one of the first to be built." Is it
possible! Our road is " one of the first that
will be built," and yet the times are too
bard for us to meet in convention to talk
about its construction! Well, we have
heard of all sorts of " times " in our life—
times too hard to raise money—too hard to
buy meat and bread—too hard to court and
marry in, but we never heard before that
times ever got to be' too hard for men to write
and talk in. In our opinion, now is the
most propitious time to engage iu such en-
terprises ; for if we can but commence this
work while money is in such great demand,
there cannot be a doubt oí its being carried
through successfully, when prosperity deigns
to smile. Read the papers, neighbor, that
show "the age and body of the times," and
learn the lesson that experience teaches.
It is not the work that is begun under
the reign of Hard Times that is left
for ages in an unfinished state; but those
that are begun in " flush times." In the
same number of the Telegraph from which
we clip the above editorial, its readers are
informed that the New York banks hav(ftl-
ready begun discounting freely at six and
seven per cent. If this be so, it is high
time to be in convention in order that this
road may profit by the " easy times " which
seem to be approaching so rapidly.
ety, Cuba, the Sandwich Islands, the Slave
Trade, the Present Hard Times, Progress of
the United States,; the Mineral Resources
of the United States, Education in our
Country, with a great variety of Commer-
cial and Agricultural Statistics, &c.
The work is published monthly, 144 pages,
at New Orleans and Washington, at $5 per
annum. Its most important papers, for the
last eight years, have been condensed into
three handsome octavo volumes, which will
be delivered without postage, for six dol-
lars. See the article in the February num-
ber of De Bow, on " The Railways of the
United States," taken from the Merchant's
Magazine. It states that Florida has 54
miles of railroad in running order, which
cost only $250,000. Why can't Texas
build railroads as cheap a? her sister Flor-
ida 1 The general contour of surface is the
same, and there is no good reason why la-
bor should be higher.
Brazos River.
The Brazos is very low and no prospect
at present of a rise. The Betty Powell is
still aground at Cox's Point; the Brazos is
opposite Randon's, waiting for a rise, and
the Major Harris at Washington. The
Port Henry not having arrived at our wharf,
must have gotten aground also, as she is re-
ported to have cleared from Galveston sev
eral days ago. Business of all kinds ex-
cept building, is very dull here, and but for
the buffalo, of which there seems to be any
number and size in our river, the lawyers
doctors and merchants of Richmond would
be without amusement.
On Thursday, the 15th inst., by Judge
Dyer, Mr. Jas. W. Sansbery to Miss Mary
C. Pickens, all of Fort Bend county.
Dipping.
PERIODICALS.
Graham for February is^on our table, also
the superb engraving of the Presidents,—
promised by this magazine to its subscribers.
The February number is gotten up in Gra-
ham's usually good style, and contains 100
pages and several beautiful engravings. Its
original comicalities cannot be surpassed.
New Paper.—Among our exchanges
last week, " The Chronicle of the Times,"
a new paper, published in Matagorda, 1 exas;
came to hand. The Chronicle is a good
sized sheet, and ought to be sustained by
the citizens of Matagorda. It may be that
the cause of their misfortune last summer, is
attributable to their indifference to the
claims of the old Tribune, for all editors are
decidedly of the opinion, that no community
can prosper without liberally supporting its
newspaper. _ _
De Bow's Review for February, 1855, is
also upon our table ; the leading articles arc
upon Slavery at the .South, Southern Soci-
Dear Editor:—I was somewhat amused
at the article which appeared in your last
issue entitled " Reveries of an Editor," and
and it strikes me that it is one of the best
examples of a noncommittal style I ever
saw. Friend Editor are you not a lawyer?
O, you must be or else you are made of the
material which is used in manufacturing
hen-peeked husbands now-a-days. I do not
know that you are posted in the science of
juvenile government, but you know the
wise man Solomon said, " spare the rod and
spoil the child." Now an editor is placed
in about the same position as a parent, as
strange as it may seem to you and if be
spares the lash when a crying evil is luxu-
riating in its loathsomeness; nor blushes,
nor fears to meet the gaze of even the edi-
tor himself. I do conceive it to be his duty
to lay on the scourge hot and heavy.
You are a modest man, my dear sir, and
proved it by applying a placebo as soon as
you uttered a rebuke to the dipping fam-
iiy.
You remind me of some mothers I have
seen, who when compelled to chastise the
little fellows, as soon as they had finished
would take them to their arms, smother them
with kisses and declare it to be a great pain
to beat the " dear sweet little things." That
is the way to obey old Solomon in that oth-
er text " train up a child and away he
goes."
The rebuke you administered was so
smothered with pleasant talk, poetry, and
ever so many sweet things that I am sure
not a single dipper dipped up a rebuke to
themselves. You have put the ball in mo-
tion and now let us down on it bravely my
confrere and see if the blasted wonner can-
not be consigned to oblivion.
How shall we go about explaining the
morbid taste of the fair daughters of Eve
in this one particular. What is it that urges
them to stain their ruby lips with the villain-
ous weed. We once heard a venerable man
remark that there was but two animal and
one worm on earth who can boast an appe-
tite so depraved as to relish tobacco. These
were a filthy goat of Africa, a loathsome
tobacco worm and man, and now shall I be
so ungallant as to add the fairest of God's
creatures.
But what induces the ladies to use to-
bacco ? It is nothing else but habit, habit
the great curse of the human race. If I
could only make the ladies believe that
there is a class of men who look upon the
practice of dipping as one of the greatest
female imperfections, I am sure the majority
of them would refrain from the disgusting
practice.
Now here are yon and myself, who say
but little and try to forget that the fair crea-
tures are addicted to the habit, and the fact
Is, I and you, Mr. Editor, look upon the sex
as perfect, minus their little imperfections,
but we know, there is Tom Sly, for instance,
who grows sick at beart and becomes dis-
gusted with all woman kind, whenever he
sees one of them indulging in the baneful
practice. I think Tom is unjust though,
for taking a few exceptions as his standard;
but when I take it home to myself and won-
der if dips, oh, horrors! Iam al-
most tempted to go right away and ask her
chamber-maid if has any short, thick,
square, big-mouthed black bottle about her
boudoir. She is a long ways away though,
and I know she never once thought of put-
ting the accursed stuff in her mouth and
should she ever indulge the habit—why—
well, I should one of these long days, if I
keep living, cxpect to see her dimpled cheek
jutted out by a quid of " James River best
honey due," or some other fancy brand to-
bacco, and then, O, ye Gods, ye Gods! could
I endure the sight of 's lovely mouth
all bathed with tobacco juice—Ugh !
The practice of dipping does not only
mar the beauty of the endnlgees, disgusts
gentlemen of taste, and degrade the angelic
band designed by Heaven as Models of pu-
rity, but it vitiates their constitution, plants
the seed of disease, fan3 into a flame all
lurking predispositions to disease of the lungs
and often, O, how often nips beauty in its
bud! How can dipping effect the lungs,
says a bright-eyed venus as dip, dip, dip,
she sees the hues of health gradually fadin
from her cheek. You do not mean to say
that the morsel of snuff I take into my
mouth can produce consumption, do you,
sir ?
O, yes, I have excited your curiosity,
have Í, and miffed you a little too, by the
by. See how she pouts out her stained
nether lip. Would she not be a beauty if
her mouth was clean. Yes, my fair one J
do say that dipping can produce, consump
tion, that fatal disease which so insiduously
lays its selective hand on, and despoils this
green earth of its fairest flowers, society of
its brightest intellects and leaves almost
every familv to bemoan the chosen of its
iiock.
I do not give you my assertion alone as
proof that dipping can do this. Ask the
experienced physician, and he will tell you
that disease and death must follow the per-
nicious practice; that the poison thus taken
is slow certain and always fatal if persisted
in.
Take a fresh blown rose and examine its
olden petalshow grateful its aroma; how
_elicate its color; how gracefully it nods to
the breeze; how. lovely is the rose. Now
every time you p&fete your lips with the
brusfi, stain its r^by lips too. Examine the
rose in twenty-four hours, the dew-drops are
sparkling on every leaf, and in its little ca-
lyx a cup of honey-dew is for the busy bee
to lade himself witJT stores, but O my, how
Ugly the leaves have grown—the filthy snuff
has poisoned the lovely flower, blancfied its
ruby lips and left ift^p droop and die. Just
so, fair lady, with you. Your allotted time
on earth is but a igw short years; that of
the rose but a few days. You have seen
that dipping poisoned and killed the rose in
a few hours, and it will as certainly poison
and kill you in la few years.
Oh ! drop the filthy mop from your grace-
ful .hand, lave thy lips and beg pardon of
all thy friends who"have seen thee «disgrace
thy charms by ministering to a morbid
taste.
Permit my friend, the doctor, to show you
vour imminent danger and how dipping pro-
duces consumption. Persons who work in
the dust (of whatever kind) are liable to be-
come consumptive, because the little parti-
cles of dust are. taken into the air cells of
the lungs, with the air they breathe, and
they there become attached to the mucous
liuing of the cells; irritate the membrane,
produce disease there, and if a predisposition
to consumption exists, consumption then
thkes its start from that little canse. See
any medical work on the causes of consump-
tion.
Snuff, when taken into the mouth acts as
a poison on the nervous system and a por-
tion of the dry particles are breathed into
the lungs, " sticks to the mucous lining,
excites it till it is infiamed and if a predis-
position to consumption exists, consumption
is the result; if no predisposition to con-
sumption exists, slow poisoning is the result;
so it is death in either case."
Now, ladies for the sake of your sex, for
the sake of humanity, for the sake of your
own purity, for God's sake disdain the inde-
cent, indelicate, inhuman practice of dip-
ping.
Ax Admirer of Female Purity.
I. Cmn in mi iaitcd. ]
Garcías Random Dots.
Hereafter I shall adopt the above context,
believing it the most appropriate title for the
crude communications I may sometimes
furnish your interesting journal with. Be-
tween us and the gate post, however, I shall
stipulate for an unrestricted roving commis-
sion. License to sail into any port, neutral
or alien enemy. My thoughts free as the
air which woos the fragrance of some fair
one's bower, or in might and majesty lays
in ruins the monuments of a nation's pride,
must have their own unbiassed course.—
Bondage to the human mind, is more than
death to tho loyal patriot. The one is no-
thing more than the cessation of the feverish
pulse, while the other is a Tartarean hell,
unillumined by a solitary ray of cheering
~ ;ht.
For the present, you must be content with
the incidents o( a short excursion to the
west of tife^dan Bernard. On the sixt day
of the sertfc^L mofith of jJie present year of
our Lord, mounted uponin tall white steed,
somewhart distinguished in local sporting an-
nals, and leaviná Richmond, its lofty spires,
its frOÍfning and minarets to fade
away in the dimtListance, I plunged into the
bosom of the unveiled prairie. Soon arose
as a relief upon the verge of the azure sky,
the stunted groups of dwarf timber at the
head of-Cotton Wood Bayou. Then ap-
peared, in livery of green, the long line of
forest trees, skirting and shading Snake
Creek. This stream, Mr. Editor, as your
good and intelligent grandmother may have
informed you, many years prior to the ad-
vent of Garcia into this work-a-day world,
empties the waters it borrows from winter
rains and wet weather springs into the San
Bernard. Its banks above R. J. Calder's,
are dotted here and there with rudely con-
structed log cabins, to which are generally
attached a few acres of badly cultivated
lands, surrounded by a low zig-zag'fence,
which a feeling of family respect prevents
the prairie cattle from overleaping. How
long it will be before the homed quadruped,
like some learned bipeds we read of, degen-
erates and and learns to despise such feeble
barriers, flying time alone must determine.
If the Nebuchadnezzar curse were upon
Garcia and Garcia hungry, • it would" not
take him long to be cropping the growing har-
vest within these enclosures. The poet
says that " stony turrets cannot keep love
out," nor can such rail fences the hunger of
ill bred cattle.
Upon the road down the Bernard, lives
R. G. Calder, for many years during the
tormy days of the Lone Star Republic, the
efficient aud popular sheriff of Brazoria coun-
ty. Bob was acting in this capacity when
an indignant public, usurping the functions
and prerogations of law, took summary jus-
tice against Willis Alston, a tragedy well
known in the local legends of the place.—
Alston was a native Georgian, of a family of
whom it was said, the daughters were all
pretty and the sons brave. Cotemporane-
ously with him in the county of Brazoria,
lived Stewart, a young physician of
much promise and highly esteemed for his
urbanity of disposition and winning man-
ners. Than the latter, no one probably
ever possessed a more enviable position in
the esteem of his fellow men. Brave as a
lion, liberal as a prince, scientific as the most
eminent in his learned profession, had the
sand been permitted to linger a little longer
in his life glass, he would have acquired for
himself a fame and renown, of which the
short twilight was but the faint promise of
future realization. But a difficulty ensued
between him aud the impetuous Georgian.
A contemptuous epithet from the incautious
lips of the unfortunate Stuart, aroused in the
breast of his implacable foe, passions which
brooked no control.* The creed of honor of
tho Alston family was written in characters
of blood. An elder brother had already, in
an unsuspecting moment of safety, sent a
victim of his wrath to his long home. The
lamented Stuart was destined to be the
next whose gore was to call from the ground
for vengeance against the man-slayer. In
obedience to a professional vail, the doctor,
accompanied by a friend, was making a visit
to a country patient. Alston, like the 'wily
Indian, was upon the alert, got wind of the
excursion, armed himself and pursued. In
the gloomiest depths of the forest, a few
miles from the town of Brazoria, where the
tall trees spread out their giant limbs, from
which hang heavy masses of moss, exclud-
ing the light of day, the young physician,
unconscious of approaching peril, was over-
taken and crueliy slam. It was a dark
deed, seen only by the shuddering friend,
tho quaking assassin and the all pervading
vision of the omniscent Jehovah. It was a
lit place for so foul a tragedy. Matted and
gnarled limbs projected, across the wagon
road. Grey moss, in mournful drapery,
flung a dismal shadow uptfn the earth. Re-
mote from human habitations, not a sound
could be heard save the cadeuce of the sum-
mer wind as its melancholy anthems moaned
through the woodland solitudes. In such a
desolate spot, surrounded by associations so
much in unison with the horror of the scene,
the sun of the gifted Stuart went down at
noon in blood.
Alston was subsequently arrested and con-
fined in jail. One day, while the sheriff
was conveying to the prisoner, his diuner, a
mob, consisting of the most respectable citi-
zens of the community, unperceived, rushed
upon the officer, and for his own safety
thrust him in prison, and taking out the af-
frighted culprit, executed upon him, despite
his entreaties and prayers for mercy, the
penalty due his crime.
Richmond, Jan. 30, 1S55.
My Dear Fellow:—The Texas Sun made
its appearance in these parts yesterday
evening, aud I must congratulate you on
its brilliant appearance. 1 have not for a
long tune seen a sheet more to my taste.—
It carries a bold and striking front, and
every thing about it is decidedly preposes-
sing. Long may its ravs continue to illu-
mine every psfct of the country, and may its
talented and energetic proprietor reap the
rich reward of his labor. Certainly, if a
good beginning augurs success, you have
nothing to fear. 1 am sure this number will
make a favorable impression here, and the
citizens of our Richmond should surely en-
courage the productions of her little name-
sake in the far-off South. I regret my own
inability to send you such news as 1* think
would be desirable. A poor devil of a pro-
fessor pent up iu one corner of the city all
day, lias but little chauce to hear the news.
By the way, how do you like an editor's
life? I have always considered it a very
laborious and tiresome business. It must be
delightful in July, to hear the little deitl
shouting "copy" at your door, when you are
at your wit's end for a new idea, and the
thermometer at 106° in the shade. But 1
had forgotten my own business. "Charity
(they say,) begins at home." I am too
amiable aud sympathetic entirely. The
weather here, at present, is cold as Lapland-
ish, and I do hope we shall secure ice enough
to keep juleps and cobblers at a reasonable
temperature in the summer. Pray, how is
your crop of ice this winter? Will you
have enough to rattle in the claret iu the
hot weather ? You know, I have eschewed
politics from my youth up, consequently, I
am a decided know-no thing on that subject,
and can say but little. Henry A. Wise, as
you no doubt know, is at present canvassing
the State as the regularly nominated candi-
date of the Democratic party, for the gubcr-
national contest, to come off in April next
They say that that mysterious and ubiqui-
tous set, the Know-Notliings, of whom 1
have yet to see the first man, are going to
run somebody against him, and there will,
no doubt, be a rare time of it. By the way,
your old friend and acquaintance the Daily
Post has espoused the Know-Nothing, alias
Native American cause, and the way the
Enquirer and they are pitching hot shot and
shell into each other, is amazing to outsiders.
I see in your paper a very handsome and
well deserved compliment to the fair author
ess of " Alone." 1 think by this time, from
all accounts, she must have realized some-
thing more than mere, compliments. Ten
thousand copies Alone, in Loudon, hi
I have not time to say more now, but you
may hear from me again soon.
Your old friend,
. 1'. H. M.
alone. Among other law reforms proposed
in England, the preliminary actitas of Grand
Juries is sought to be abolished, leaving the
finding of indictments at^lie will of a respon-
sible prosecutor.
We, who have borrowed so much from
English jurisprudence, should heed her re-
forms. If she, with licr usual caution has
found her juries and other means of admin-
istering justice, uncertain, inefficient and im-
politic, and has .adopted better, we should
give the matter a share of our attention.
But, aside from the example of England,
our own common seuse teaches us that her
cast off garment of law aud equity suit us
badly and we think it not very difficult to
devise a method that*will be equally just,
aud more expeditious, for the decision of
civil suits, than by juries. The expences of
legal proceedings and the onerous tax on
citizens, called from their daily pursuits to
settle differences between litigants, together
with other reasons, suggest the advisability
of such a reform, if it can be attained.
A Desperate Affair.
The California papers give an account of
a fight between a party of three miners and
twelve robbers, which seems almost incred-
ible, although it is supported by the best
testimony. It is as follows:
Placerville, Dec. 23, 2 p. m.
Ihe Mountain Democrat extra, savs:—
" We received the following starding'iutel-
ligcnce last night after our paper had been
worked off. Rocky Cannon, the place of
the tragedy, is a deep and almost inacces-
sible cannon, about forty jniles north of this
place, near Todd's Yalfcy and uninhabited.
Rocky Cannon, Dec. 20.
^■o officer having been within a conveni-
ent distance to attend to a case of emergency
that has just happened near our isolated
camp here, the uncrsigned constituted them-
selves a coroner's jury, and held an inquest
over the deceased bodies of twelve men
that were killed within a mile of our camp,
ou the 10th inst., a full account óf which,
v.'e deem it our duty to publish. Three of
the undersigned were eye witnesses to tlie
whole scene, though too far off to give aid
in any way. On yesterday, 19th insr., three
men, who afterwards proved to be a Mr.
Jas. C. McDonald,.of Alabama, now de-
ceased, Dr. Bolivar A. Sparks, of Mississippi,
and Capt. Jonathan R. Davis, of South Car-
flowery
Time is
[F«* tit Templt Honor ]
The Dying Year.
" Gone ! gone fortcer !—Like a rushing' Mrf
Another year—has burst upon the shore
(>f earthly being—and its last low tome .
Wandering in broken accents on the air
Are dving—to an echo."
Ah yes! gone fore ver gone ! What is time
that we should note so minutely its rapid
flight ? What are a few days or a few yean
to the ever active denizens of this floi
vale ? Ah! much, much indeed.
an integral portion of eternity. Moments,
month, years, centuries are used to give dl-
finitiveness to the passing events of Ais
world's history ; to enable the chronolqger
to designate the occurrence of particular
events. By time, too, is measured human
life. Another year has fled ! And how many
bright eyes have been suffused with the
tears of sorrow. How many cheeks have
become blanched, cold and shrivelled. How
many active forms just bursting into noon-
day life, with aspirations high, and prospects
bright, have been claimed by death as her
own. How many comfortless mourners has
the dying year left weeping over their dear
departed little ones. How many chairs have
been left vacant. How many cradles ten-
antless. Oh time! thou art iudeedsi
conqueror! The humble and the e:
i#
mighty
xalted,
the rich and the poor, the idiot and philoso-
pher, the bond and free alike are crushed
beneath thy mighty tread—with thee, there
is r.o distinction; but all ages, sexes and con-
ditions are alike thy victims and burie& in
one common grave. Kingdoms, empires,
powers aud principalities crumble at the
touch of thy hand, and are swept forever
into eternity. Cities with all their magnif-
icence and splendidly decorated edifices,
dedicated to the worship of the Allwise,
with their tall spires almost reaching beyond
uiortal vision, alike by thee are buried for-
ever in ablivion. Aud must all the glories
of the world thus fade f Must every pulsa-
tion of the heart, every vibration of the pen-
dulum, be the signal of the departure of a
soul " to join the innumerable caravan that
movos in the dark realms of shade 1" Must
all things be thus resolved ? " Strange
thought, that the beautious phenomena of
personal existence—the thrills of the lover
the mother's smile on clicrub infancy, the
brightness of loving firesides, the aspirations
of generous poets and philosophers, the
thought cast up, and beyond the earthly,
that petard which breaks down every door
—the tear of penitence, the mockness of tho
suffering humble, the ardor of the strong in
good causes, all that the great and beneficient
of all ages have felt, all that each of us now
I sees and muses on in his home, his people,
olma, were traveling on foot on a trail with- his age—that all these should be thus re-
in a^ mile of our camp, to prospect a vein of solved: passing away whole " equinoxes'
gold bearing quartz, some twenty or thirty
miles north of this place.
As they were passing the base of the
mountain, three of the undersigned being out
on a hunting expedition on its side, saw a
party of men who were concealed in the
bushes near the trail, spring up, commencing
to fire at them. Mr. McDonald fell dead.—
He was shot before he was- even aware of
his danger. He and his party liad nothing
but their revolvers. Sparks shot twice at
the banditti, and then fell severely wounded.
In the meantime Capt. Davis, who was the
first to commence shooting in defcuce of
himself and party, in an instant after the
first volley of the robbers, being still under,
kept up an incessant fire upon them with
Lis revolver, every b..ll forcing its victim to
nñtetbe dust until ail the loads of bothparnes
[from the Gal cestón Ncics. ]
Jury Trials.
If law is " the perfection of reasoning " it
singularly uncertain in its results; and
human minds reason very differently as to
its mies. Iudeed it seems inconsistent, to
assert that that is^ perfect, which is so imper-
fectly understood, and in regard to which
men equally intelligent will widely differ.
Bu, if law is uncertain, much more so are
the verdicts of petit juries. A horse race,
the result of an election, and the verdict of
a petit jury, are three things which often
puzzle the most astute. But we intend only
to touch on one of these uncertainties at pre-
sent—the verdicts of petit juries.
We saw in an exchange, the other day, a
statement about a jury applying to the judge
for instructions. The jury were agreed as
to the evidence, and satisfied about the law,
but their prejudices would not permit tlrem
to decide accordingly. Instances of this
kind are by no means rare. Laws arc often
rendered nugatory by the prejudices of ju-
rors, who will not, or cannot, divest them-
selves of pre-conceived opinions, and who
undertake to legislate from the jury-box, by
giving the greatest effect to law in some
cases and nullifying it in others—their oaths
binding them te be governed by the law
and evidence, to the contrary notwithstand-
ng. In New York, a few weeks ago, in tl e
case of Shelton vs. Fuller, eleven jurors
in favor of a mere nominal verdict, but the
other juryman stood out, and to enable them
to get their dinners, the eleven agreed on a
verdict for S250. We heard, yesterday, of
a case that occurred not far from home, in
which the jury being unable to agree on the
amount they should award the plaiitiff, struck
on the novel method of ascertaining the sum
each was in favor of, and then adopted the
medium as their verdict. Iu fact, in a great
many cases that come before our courts, it is
next to impossible to find twelve men unan-
imous, and it is one of the absurdities of our
law that requires them always to be so. In
the bearing of facts and the relation of par
ties, where questions of law arc involved
with the jurors' discrimination, it is not easy
to find half a dozen men that will agree on
all points, and we must naturally cxpect
that when twelve are forced to a decision, a
sacrifice of opinion and judgment must be
made by some of them.
In England, Brougham, Campbell and
other eminent jurists who have given much
of their attention to law reforms, are de
cidedly in favor of a modification of the jury
system. Notwithstanding jury trial is the
great protection of the subject's liberty and
the individual's rights, its uncertainty is such
that it is recommended to be abolished iu
civil suits, aud so modified in criminal pro-
ceedings that a majority may find a verdict
County Courts have been established, in
which, parties consenting, causes arc tried
without juries. Out of several millions of
cases in these counts, scarcely one in
thousand required a jury. In equity pro-
ceedings, issues to try questions of fact were
formerly sent before juries in Common Law
courts. Now ther are tried by the judge
seemed to have bl^ítTfísclínrged: íi hfe
river, one of thejurors in attendance
. . . i , n . «nrv *i i «i.:^ ^
viving robbers made an attack upon Capt,
Davis with bowie-knives, aud one with a
short sword or saber. Capt. Davis stood
his ground firmly until they -rushed up
abreast of him, within four steps. He then
made a spring upon them with a large bowie-
knife; gave three of them wounds that
proved fatal. Having wounded the -other
one very slightly,.and disarmed him by
throwing his knife in the air in warding of!
a blow; as this last man expressed in a tone
of gratitude before his death, Capt. D. went
to work at once tearing up his own shirt and
binding up all the wounds of the living, ot
both frends and enemies. On an examina-
tion of the persons of the deceased of those
that commenced the attack on Capt. D. and
party, we discovered papers, carefully con-
cealed in their pockets, purporting to be a
copy of laws aud by-laws by which thev
were govered.
The last of this band has just died. Iliá
wounds, he thought himself, were but slight,
and seemed in a fair way of recovery until
the last hour, and corroborated all the evi-
dence proven by the papers in his pocket^
Signed by W. C. Thompson and fifteen
others.
into the past, as far as we particular men are
concerned. Still passing further back as
respects the larger personalities called na-
tions, and still further in inconceivable mul-
tiplication with regard to the species—gone,
lost, hushed" in eternity forever. Yes, this
is time's lesson—and thus will it ever be.—
Each re volution of this orb around the burn-
ing and brilliant luminary of day, is but an-
other step in time's eventful march which
shall never end. The echo of his last step
is now dying in the air. Another year has
passed forever, richly freighted with human
life, human passions, prejudices and theories
and
" Like a rushing wave
Another year has burst upon the shore,
Of enrtltiv being."
i - r
S5P We learn that a Mr. Neill, from the
upon the Federal Court"jicw
city, died yesterday mor
fact of his being here in this capacity, it i
be inferred that his death was sudden from
cholera or some other disease contracted
here; we therefore take occasion to state
that he came to this city in the most wretch-
ed condition of health from long continued
chills and fever contracted in the couutry,
which finalv, we are informed, resulted iu
dVopsy, and terminated his life.—Time .
Procession of Unemployed Foreign-
ers.—A company of so^ two or three thou-
sand foreign looking persons passed our office
this morning with banners bearing mottoes
new to the eyes of New Yorkers. Or one
appeared these defiant word: " We Want
Work and We Will Have It." On another
the awful word " Hunger" was flaunting in
the face of day; and another bore this mys-
terious threat: " The last Recourse." We
don't believe the "oldest inhabitant" of our
city ever saw the like of this before.—N. Y.
Mirror, Thursday.
The Nashville Whig of the 30th ult.,
has the following:
Tennessee and Alabama Railroad.—
Despite all the drawbacks incident to the
" hard times," this work has been steadily
pushed forward under the auspices of an en-
ergetic business-like management. J. S.
Clay brook, Esq., the active and efficient
President of the company, is emphatically a
working man. The road iu expected to bo
finished as far as Franklin in about three
weeks from this time—the iron laid and the
cars running.
Shooting Affray.—An affray occurred
A! the drinking house on the square, known
I as Bell's Exchange, on Saturday night,
which threatens a fatal result. Robt. A.
Parish shot a man named Thomas Joues,
the ball entering the left brest, and pene-
trating the lung. The physicians consider
his recovery doubtful. Parish was held to
bail by Esq. Marccll, first in the sum of
51,500, and afterwards, when the serious
nature of the wound was discovered, was re-
arrestcd, and his bond increased to $4,000.
The preliminary examination is set for this
morning.
New Orleans Spring Races.—"Ran-
ger" writes from this to the Spirit of the
Times that " Col. Biugaman, Hon. D. F.
Kenner and Capt. Minor have some eight
Another letter, dated Rocky Cannon, De-
cember 19, to Wni. Henderson, Esq., Placer-
ville :
Quite an exciting scone happened yes-
terday, within a mile of our tent. While
two of my partners aud myself were limiting
over the l¿lls, we heard the report of guns
below us, aud saw two small parties shooting
at each other. Being satisfied that they
were all -strangers, we hesitated for a mo-
ment before we ventured to go down.
feeling of duty, however, prompted us to: as Bell's Exchange, on Saturday night,
hasten down to them. On approaching, we ; which threatens a fat.il result. R
saw two persons fall—(these persons weie
of a little party of three whom we had ob-
served half an hour previous quietly follow-
ing the trail)—and the remaining one of the
party, a man somewhat above the medium
(¡eighth, who^i we could readily distinguish
by his white hat from all the lest, fighting
bravely for his life. Approaching still near-
er, we were surprised at the sight, of eleven
men lying strotehed ou the ground, seven of
them dead, (belonging, as they afterwards
proved, to a party of robbers,) and one only
of the party of three so suddenly fired upon-
from the bushes by robbers.
Three of the wounded robbers having
died last night, we liad ten of them to bury.
One survives, who will probably recover;
lie is, however, marked for life, having lost
his nose in toto, and the forefinger of his
right hand. The surviving one, who seems
to be little hurt, says that their band was
composed of two Americans, five Sydney
men, and four Mexicans ; aud had just com-
menced operations, having killed six China-
men three days ago, and four Americans on
the day before yesterday. Although we
counted twenty-eight bullet holes through
Capt. Davis's hat and clothes—seventeen
through his hat and eleven through his coat
and shirt—he received two very slight flesh
wounds. Yours, truly,
John Webster. %
To W. Henderson, County Surveyor, Pla-
cerville.
i < c Nashville Whig of the id has
the following item:
A shooting affray occnrrcd in Covington,
on Friday week, between Dr Livington, of
Cuban notoriety, and Col. Pelty. The dif-
ficulty is said to have originated iu some of-
fensive language which passed between the
parties at the St. Charles Hotel, in New
Orleans several months since. Both of the
parties drew and fired revolvers when they
met, and Col. Pelty received a wound in the
horses each in traning. Gen. Wells has four,
with Lecomte at the head; and Mr. Ten
liroeck and 1 urnbull each about the some
number. I hree or four very interesting
aud large stakes are to come oí in April
next, and Lexington has to run his match
against time (7 : 26) between the first and
fifteenth of April. Bet all sorts of exertions
" from tiles to togcry," that he makes the
Time."—Pica vuue.
¡M
i
%
I
1
I
\
i
A frieud from the " rural districts"
was boasting the other day that his favorite
preacher, whose sermon had been objected
to by some on account of their great length
and pompous style, had sensibly improvj
in these respects, when lie was very iif
litely, reminded of what Sydney Smith
of Macaulay : " After so much claptrap and
magniloquence of word and deed, ending in
such little results, a few splendid passages of
silence would improve his reputation."—
itian.
Canal Boat.—The steamer " For
ry," Capt. King, is a large and finf
and is admirably suited to the canal tr
for which she is intended, as is'shown by.thJ
following figures. Her length is 150 feet;
her breadth including guards, is 36 fetí, nd
she draws light only 16 or 17 inches. -Her
cabin accommodations are about eqjfid to
„ J those of the Houston boats. Capt.^L^arts
shoulder, from which it is thought he ennnot on his first trip through tj:c canal tÜÜpÍPfh-
recover. ing.—Adrorafc.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Rawlings, R. H. The Texas Sun. (Richmond, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 6, Ed. 1 Saturday, February 17, 1855, newspaper, February 17, 1855; Richmond, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth180763/m1/2/?q=%22tex-fron%22: accessed June 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.