The Semi-Weekly Journal. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 100, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 16, 1851 Page: 2 of 4
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THURSDAY, JAN. 16, 1851
We are requested to announce Col.
V. E. HOWARD, as a candidate for re-elec-
tion. to represent the second Congressional
District of this State, in the Congress of the
United States.
The Question for debate on Saturday
at the Lyceum, is one of more than ordinary
importance. There cannot, we think, be such
a thing as apathy with Texans on a matter
so important to their interests and involving,
as many believe, the honor and credit of our
State.
Essence of Jamaica Ginger.—We are in-
debted to Mr. H. St. John, Licentiate of the
Apothecary’s Hall, London, for a couple of
vials of the above essence, prepared at the
establishment of Dr. J. B. Dunkum. It is
useful in the many complaints arising from a
disordered stomach, acting as an excellent
tonic and creating a hearty appetite. Every
housekeeper knows the efficacy and useful-
ness of ginger, and in the convenient form in
which this is presented, it is so much more
available, that none should be without it. In
cases of chills, cholera, colic, &c., its readiness
may be the means of preventing much suffer-
ing and even death.
District ConnT.-Rogers who was charged
with the murder of Henke, was tried yester-
day and acquitted. There is another indict-
ment against him for larceny not yet decided.
Henke, it will be recollected, was murdered
a short time ago at the west end of our Island.
He was a seaman on board a schooner of which
Rogers was master.
Mail Robbery.—We complained, on Tues-
day, that some of the Post Masters had been
neglectful, inasmuch as no mail came to this
Post Office from the interior. Partial, if not
total failures, previously, led us to this conclu-
sion. It has been ascertained, however, that
the missing mail, of Sunday last, was stolen
1 he fragments of the letters were discovered
to the east of this city, in the sand, covered
over with a blanket. The mail bag has not
been discovered, nor any traces of the news-
paper mail. All the letters found had been
opened and mutilated. Two men have been
arrested on suspicion of having committed the
robbery, and the matter is undergoing an in
vestigation to-day. The mail was probably
stolen from the steamer Farmer on Sunday
morning last.
Loss of the Palmetto—Further particulars.
We have conversed with some of the offi-
cers of the Palmetto, who returned to this city
by the Louisiana this morning. They state
that the Palmetto in crossing the bar at the
entrance to Matagorda bay, struck, in eight
feet water, about three o’clock on Thursday
the 9th inst., and afterwards drifted towards
he shore, despite all attempts to get, her off.
The wind was blowing from the South at the
ime and a heavy sea rolling. Finally, when
.he vessel became fast on shore a line was
passed from the lee side to the beach, and the
;rew and passengers were safely landed, to-
gether with the lighter portion of the baggage.
On Friday the Palmetto went to pieces, leav-
ing the machinery and that portion of the hull
supporting it standing. The engine will prob-
ably be saved. The place where the passen-
gers landed is about six miles South of Salu-
ria. The beach was strewed with portions of
the wreck and cargo. The Palmetto had
pilot on board at the time of the accident, but
whether it was attributable, as some tlpnk, to
his want of skill, we have no information
whereby to determine.
Improvement of the Trinity River.
It has been suggested, on several occasions,
that application should be made to Congress
lor an appropriation to improve the navigation
of the Trinity river. Without laying any
particular stress on the fact that the Govern-
ment would save the necessary amount in a
few years on the transportation of supplies
to the military posts on our frontier, there are
other considerations for making the improve-
ment, which we trust will not be objected to
by our democratic friends.
Texas is a vast, but young and growing
State. Her revenues are limited, and in the
opinion of many all they money to be paid
her for Santa Fe will not cover her indebted-
ness. Has she not then a strong claim on the
General Government for such aid as has been
extended in past times to older States?
Moreover, internal improvements would in-
crease her population and her wealth, crea-
ting, as her exports multiply, a market for
imports, and consequently adding to the reve-
nues of the United States. Let it be shown
to Congress that very small expenditures, in
opening our rivers and deepening the bars at
their mouths, would be of infinite importanca
to the public prosperity—that the great ex-
tent ol our sea-coast, demands consideration,
and we think something will be done. Texas
in her recent political course has shown such
attachment to the Union, as to entitle her to
favor at the hands of the Administration and
of Congress. That any applications she may
make, for improvements of the kind alluded
to, will not be overlooked, we cannot doubt,
and we have been assured by gentlemen who
were recently in Washington city, that the
present cabinet is in every way disposed to
advance her interests. We suggest, then, that
the people of Galveston and the Trinity val-
ley unite in an application to Congress for an
appropriation, at least sufficient to open the
Trinity bar. It is but right and proper that
we let our wants he known, and if Congress
fails to notice or provide for them we can then
complain of neglect, hut not till then.
Reduction in Postage.
Several of the first papers in the country,
in urging this measure, have avowed their
willingness so pay postage on their exchanges.
Under the present system a large amount of
mail matter is carried free, of which the ex-
changes between editors is no inconsiderable
portion. But the greatest burden on the mails
is Congressional documents and the millions of
other papers that pass free ol charge under
the lranking privilege of the Senators and
Representatives of the United States. It is
proposed to abolish this privilege, and to see it
accomplished we heartiliy accord with those
editors who are willing to surrender their priv-
ileges. It is contended that the Post Office
Department should sustain itself, but it can-
not with any show of reason be argued that
the postage payers should support other de-
partments ot Government, or be taxed to pro-
mulgate the interests of politicians and parties.
The frankingprivilege has, as everyone knows,
been used for the circulation of electioneering
documents; for party and individual agran-
dizement, and very often for private ends. To
abolish a system so much abused and incor-
rect in its inception no pains should be spared,
and for this reason the press of the country
should renounce all the advantages Congress
has given it, and call on that body to do its
duty to the people by abolishing those privi-
leges which it has assumed to itself.
For ourselves, the postage on our exchanges
would amount, even at the reduced rates pro-
posed, to a very considerable sum, and the
franking privilege has given us several useful
volumes, through the members ol' Congress,
but we are willing to forego such favors and
pay a reasonable postage on all documents
that we receive, in order that justice may be
done. The free exchanges between editors,
allowed by Congress, may be defended on the
ground of disseminating intelligence, but
does seem to be somewhat in the nature of a
bribe, to silence the press in refernce to that
more enormous tax on the postal system—the
franking privilege.
The bill before Congress proposes to reduce
postage on letters of half an bonce to a uni-
form rate of three cents, and also proposes a
proportionate reduction on newspapers. The
example of England in this matter,
believe, may he followed not only with safety,
but benefit to the country. In the United
States the proportion of educated citizens is
much greater than in England, and yet the
number of letters passing through the British
mails is more than double that in this country
taking the average in connexion with the pop-
ulation. The facilities of Commerce and the
diffusion of information amongst the masses
will be advanced by cheap postage, and these
should not be retarded for the benefit of either
Congressmen or editors.
For the Galveston Journal.
What is it that Paves the way for Common
Schools 1
Common Schools are allowed by all to be
indispensable to the well being of society.—
To their establishment and support, the most
untiring efforts ot the most enlightened states-
men and the purest patriots, are freely given.
No subject is more generally popular than
Common School education. The absolute
necessity of providing the means for such ed-
ucation constitutes the chosen theme for the
aspirant to popular favor, in all republican
communities, and especially in Texas. In no
State is it more easy to obtain a frank admis-
sion of the necessity of educating the mas-
ses than in Texas. And this is very natural
and right, as all our officers from the lowest to
the highest are elected by the people.
As common schools are thus popular, and
the necessity of common school education is so
generally admited, is not the instrumentality
which paves the way for the establishment of
such schools entitled to a share of popular fa-
vor? What is that instrumentality? As
the Press is said to be an exponent of public
opinion. I will quote the following frpm a
correspondent of the Galveston “Civilian.”
“As yet we have no general system of ed-
ucation, yet most of the settlements can and
do cluster together a sufficient number of
schollars to form a school which is put into op-
eration as a thing ol first consequence. The
people are much assisted in this by the praise
worthy and successful efforts, which are being
made to perforate every regionofthe State
with Sunday Schools. In these the children
are congregated together. They learn to as-
sociate for improvement in mental discipline—
they learn to read—in short they learn to come
together as a little community, that in each
case shows the practicability while it paves
the way for a common school.
Are you fellow-citizens, the friend of com-
mon school education ? Shall not, then, that
institution which paves the way for common
schools receive your cordial and liberal sup-
port ? A TEXAN.
Steamboat Disasters.—A steamboat ex-
plosion occurs about every week on the Missis-
sippi. ff he lastone that we have any account
of was the steamer Fashion on the 22nd ult.
by the collapsing of a flue, in coming out of
locks on the Monongahela slack water. Four
persons were killed and several others badly
wounded. The boat was greatly dam-
aged.
Two steamers, the Citizen and the Despatch,
were snagged, last month, in the Arkansas, ri-
ver, and lost.
Governor Bell has issued his procla-
mation for a “ Thanksgiving day,” and fixed
on the first Thursday in March for that pur-
pose.
Relations with Austria.
The correspondence between Mr. Hulse-
man, the Austrian Charge at Washington,
and Mr. Webster, was laid before the United
States Senate on the 30th ult. The Austrian
Charge complained that the mission of Mr.
Dudley Mann, to Hungary, was a violation
of .the principles ofnon-intervention,and speaks
of Mr. Mann as a spy.
Mr. Webster’s answer is a masterpiece of
bold and manful statesmanship, and will be
read with pride by the people of the whole
Union. It received the encomiums of all the
Senators, and as much as any act in his career
is calculated to add to the fame of the Secre
tary of State.
Mr. Webster justified the conduct of the
United States, and tells Mr. Hulseman that
while this Government will fulfil its nutral
duties, nothing will deter either it or the peo-
ple from expressing their opinions on the po-
litical events of other nations, and says the
possessions of Austria as compared with this
country, are but a patch on the earth’s surface.
Governor Bell on the Bible.—The
Governor in his Thanksgiving proclamation
congratulates the people of the State on their
improved prospects.and adds:
In the beautiful qnd expressive language
ol the Bible : ' The winter of our discontent
is gone; the rain is over and past; the time
of the springing of the flowers is come, and
the voice of the turtle is heard in our land ?’”
Gov. Beil is a funny man ; and when he
talks in another place about the “fountainsof
religious light ” being open, we would like to
pointed to the chapter and verse where he
found the language quoted. “Now is the
winter of our discontent.” &c., occurs, we be-
lieve, in Shakspeare’s works. Oh Governor
Bell! To take the words out of the mouth
of that hunchbacked villain, King Richard,
and attribute them to the Bible ! Why Bible
readers will blush with shame at the sacrilege
and the Bowery boys of New York will hold
indignation meetings reprobating such igno-
rance ol the writings of the “immortal bard.”
The German brig Joan Frederick,
from Germany, with emigrants, arrived at
Matagorda bay on the 29th ult.
ITF3 A party of Indians recently visited the
neighborhood ot Goliad and were pursued by
Capt. McCulloch’s Rangers, when a fight en-
sued, in which the Indian’s horses were all ta-
ken, together with their trappings. Seven
Indians escaped, and probably two or three
were killed or wounded, so that the whole
number was about ten. The horses stolen by
the Indians were restored to the owners.—
Lieut. King, of the Rangers, was wounded.
Important Invention.—An Automaton
Sempstress.—Mr. Allen B. Wilson, of Pitts-
burgh, Massachusetts, has recently obtained
a patent for a machine, by which sewing of all
descriptions is executed in a very rapid man-
ner, and in fineness and strength superior to
hand work. The simplicity of the mechanism
its diminutiveness, and the amount of work
which it accomplishes, are truly astonishing.
A single machine occupies so little space that
it can be put inside of a mdn’s hat, and yet
by the turning of a small crank, the instru-
ment will sew ten times Jasler than any semp-
stress !
Sewing machines have been invented and
in use in this country for three or tour years
past, but none of them have ever been of much
benefit, since they could only he used lor
coarse work, and were otherwise so inconve-
nient as to be only partially able to compete
with hand labor.
The invention we are now describing, obvi-
ates all these difficulties, for it can be used lor
any kind of sewing, fine or coarse, and for em-
broidery. Every part ot a man’s dress, coat,
vest, and pantaloons—button holes excepted
—can be made by this machine; also, ladies’
dresses, shirt bosoms, caps, collars, etc. In
fact, there is scarce a single branch of needle
work to which this instrument cannot he ap-
plied, sewing ten times faster, liner and strong-
er than by hand.
So says the New York Sun at least. The
advantages of such a discovery are somewhat
doubtful, as it would leave the ladies only a
little. “crotchet” work (we believe that is the
word) and embroidery to do. They already
complain that we have taken away all their
rights and privileges, and we may soon expect
a storm or a “ Woman’s Contention,” if they
are to he set aside for “automaton seam-
stresses.”
Mot) at Peoria, Illinois.
One of the most disgraceful scenes of which
we have ever read, is thus narrated in the
Peoria Republican of the 27th ult.:
It is generally known that we have two
young men confined in our county jail, under
sentence of death, for the murder of a Mr.
Hewitt, in October last. The day fixed by
the court for their execution was the 20th in-
stant. The time given them to prepare for
death was felt to be short; but it was about
the limit assigned by the law, unless for cause
shown, the Court or Governor might prolong
it. Special application being made to the Go°
vernor, that functionary postponed the exe-
cution of the sentence until the 15t.h day of
January next. Unfortunately this application
was made only a few days before the time set
by the Court had expired, and the respite was
not known here soon enough to certify the
public at a distance of the change.
On the evening of the 19tlCthe unusual
coneourse of people from a distance gave to-
ken of the anticipated event which had called
them from their homes. Dissatisfaction at the
postponement of the execution began to be
manifested. People who had left their busi-
ness and come a long way to see two men
hung, were not to he deprived of the sight
with impunity. One unhappv man had° it
seems, now twice in his life, walked all nighl
to see somebody hung, and was a second time
to fall short of his lofty aspirations. It was
too much. Such sore bereavements in a free
country were intolerable. It was, therefore,
determined that, law or no law, the hanging
must come off. Menaces to this effect duf not.
at first create apprehension, as it was thought
incredible that, whether to gratify a depraved
appetite for carnage, or an idle curiosity, or
upon tho pretence of meteing out justice to
the guilty, men in this land would openly and
wantonly defy the law, stain their hands in
human blood, and incur the guilt of the mur-
derer! Hence doubtless it was that, no suffi-
cient organization for the defence was effect-
ed in time by the proper officers.
On the morning of the 20th, the crowds
from the country increased, and directed their
course towards the jail; soon a vast throng
was there concentrated. The prisoners were
demanded of the sheriff; but there was as yet
liitle concert of action, and no acknowledged
leader.
Straws show which way the Wind
Blows.—The Ohio Constitutional Conven-
tion. on the 27th ult.. refused to grant the use
of the Convention Hall that evening to Dr.
Drake, for the purpose of delivering an ad-
dress- upon the evils of slavery.
Cuba.--Increase of Duties.--A Havana
paper, of a recent date, published a Royal
Decree, dated at Madrid, November 3d. 1850.
increasing the present duties one and a half
percent, on all foreign goods imported into
tne Island ol Cuba, lor the purpose, as the
Decree states, of insuring the future happi-
ness and protection (!) of the people of’the
Island, by re-inforcing the army and augmen-
ting every means for the suppression of any
further attempts to change the established or-
der of things.
This Decree is to take effect on and after
the first of February, on vessels arriving from
the United States; on and after the first
of April, on vessels arriving from the Rio de
la Plata, the Brazils, and other points of South
America.; and on and after the first of March,
on those from ports in Europe.
Gipods of national importation will pay an
additional one per cent—and flour an addi-
tional two reals per barrel. Every box of
sugar exported from the Island will pay an
additional four reals ; every quintal of tobac-
co an addition two reals; and on every thou-
sand cigars an additional two reals.
So much of the Decree as relates to the ar-
ticles contained in the last paragraph, takes
effect on and after the first of January,' 1851.
An Escape.—Mackay, who was stabbed
some time since in Mobile, and was thought
to be dying, is recovered and out of danger_
Some of the circumstances in this affair"furn-
ished an instructive lesson upon the uncertain-
ties ol testimony and the danger of receiving
dying declarations against the living. One
Lawler was arrested on the charge (°f inflict-
ing the wound upon Mackay. The wound
was pronounced to be mortal, and Mackay
believing himself about to die, made declara-
tions, to be used on trial after his death, that
the stab was inflicted by Lawler. He has re-
coAered, and on a subsequent examiniation it
has been shown that, Lawler did not use any
weapon, but the wound was given by another
person, who attempted to run away, but has
been arrested and confessed the fact. Had he
escaped, and Machay died, it is evident that
Lawler, although entirely innocent, would
have been convicted on Mackay s declartions.
In the meantime, a gallows was erected on
the opposite side ol the street fronting the
jail the halters prepared and fastened to their
places—every thing arranged, even to the
hangman’s noose, that the business might pro-
ceed whenever the prisoners were brought
forth. There was a rope for each; but it is
said that (by way of luxury perhaps) George
was to be hanged first, and Tom obliged "to
stand by arid look on, that the amiable execu-
tioners might the better regale themselves
upon the agony which the sight and his own
impending doom would awaken. But not to
extend this detail too far, it must suffice to say.
that despite the efforts of a few inside and
some outside, who were anxious to arrest pro-
ceedings, the door ol the jail was burst in,and
tne hall, up to the cells of the victims, filled
with the mob. Here the strength of the cell
door brought them to a* halt. Beams ol lim-
ber, crow bars, stones and sledges, did the
work, however, and an entrance to both cells
was effected. George was caught, praying,
and brought into the hall to waif the capture
ol Tom. F
Here a slight obstacle again intervened.—
Toni had concluded not to be taken. While
the mob was at work without, he had man-
aged to dig a stone from the floor of his cel 1.
which he slid into the leg of a pair of cast off
breeches, and stood on the defensive. But
when the door was burst in, it seems he was
taken a little by surprise, and some of the rab-
ble entered. His adroitness, however, and
the use of his slung-shot, enabled him to get
rid ol them. He then posted himself at The
door, which being low and narrow, hut one
could enter at a time, and as last as any one
attempted it, he paid the forfeit. Three or
four of them were knocked down,arid the skull
ol one of them broken. Instruments of de-
fence and attack were procured, but those he
managed to capture, and used them in fortify-
ing his position. Some one drew a pistol apd
ordered him to surrender. He bared his breast
and challenged the fellow to shoot, said they
might kill him where he was or the Sheriff
might, take and hang him according to law,
but he would never be dragged out by a mob
and hung like a dog.
This fierce determination to sell his life dear-
ly, and die in his tracks, had a rriellowing and
enlightening influence upon the dense facul-
ties of his assailants. They began to mode-
rate in their zeal for justice, andto think they
were carrying matters too far. The favora-
ble moment was seized by the friends of order,
and a proposition, affording a loop-hole of es-
cape from the ignominy of defeat, was made
and accepted. After some parley, the jail was
cleared, the gallows taken down, and the mob
dispersed. The performance was over—the
mountain had labored, the mouse was born,
end the throes of parturition ceased to he felt.
Thus ended in farce, what Threatened and was
designed for tragedy. And this result was
brought about chiefly by the skill and valor of
Tom Brown, one of the prisoners.
[cjmmunicvtfd]
Public Meeting in Betiaff of the American
Sunday School Union.
At the suggestion of Hoft. R. T. Wheeler and
other highly respectable geptlemen, the agent of
the American Sunday School Union has consent-
ed to call another meeting* in its behalf, and the
use ot the Methodist Chupch having been kindly
tendered lor that purpose. Such a meeting will be
held at that place next Sunday night, commenc-
ing at the usual hour of evening service. Ad-
dresses are anticipated from several gentlemen of
the bar. *
The friends of the mental and moral improve-
ment of the rising generation, in Texas, are re-
spectfully invited-to attend.
Nature’s Engineers.—Mr. Benton, in
his late speech in the Senate, in favor of the
bill tor the construction of a road from St.
Louis to San Francisco, says:
“There is an idea become current of late—a
new-born idea—that none but a man ofscience
bred in a school, can lay off a road. This is
a mistake. There is a class of topographical
engineers older than the schools, and more un-
erring than the mathematics. They are the
wild animals—buffalo, elk, deer, antelope,
bears which traverse the lorest. not by coin-
pass, but by an instinct which leads them al-
ways the right way—to the lowest passes in
the mountains, the shallowest fords in the ri-
vers, the richest pastures in the forests, the
best salt springs and the shortest practicable,
lines between remote points. They travei
thousand of miles, have their annual migration
backwards and forwards, and never nnss the
best, and shortest route. These are the first
engineers to lay out a road in a new country :
the Indians follow them, and hence a buffalo
road becomes a war path. The first white
hunters follow the same trailsin pursuing their
game, and after that the buffalo road becomes
the. wagon road of the white man, and finally
the macadamized or railroad of the scientific
man. It all resolves itself into the same
thing -into the same buffalo road and thence
the buffalo becomes the first and safest engi-
neer. Thus it has been here, in the countries
which we inhabit, &nd the history of which is
so familiar. The present national road from
Cumberland, over the Alleganies, was the
military roacUff Gen. Braddock, which had
been the buffalo path of the wild animals. So
oj the two roads from Western Virginia to
Kentucky—one through the gap in the Cum-
berland mountains, the other down the Kana-
wha. They were both war-paths of the In-
dia as. and the traveling route of the buffalo,
and thair first white acquaintances the early
hunteis. Buffaloes made them in going from
the salt springs of Kentucky; Indians followed
them first, white hunters afterwards—and that,
is the way Kentucky was discovered. In
more than ;t hundred years no nearer or bet-
ter routes have been found; and science now
makes her improved roads exactly where the
buffalo's foot first marked the way, and hunt-
er’s foot afterwards followed him.”
Great Cave in Indiana—The Mammc
Cave Beaten.—We are just informed!)]-
J. Coleman, Esq., who has lately visited1
Great Indiana Cave, that another itnm
cavern has been discovered opening from
original cave, which in extent, curiosities, a
productions, far surpasses the5
cave. . Mr. Coleman discovered an
just before reaching Jacob’s
1
to the Louisville
December, 29th,
A Learned Journeyman Printer.—The
Albany Dutchman gives an account of Mr.
John Paterson, a native of New Jersey, and
a journeyman printer, who has, by his'own
efforts, become thoroughly versed in every
branch ot Mathematics, and can read and write
Greek. Latin, Hebrew and Arabic with as
much ease and fluency, as he can the Eng-
lish. In the different living languages he is
equally well posted up. His great work,
“The Calculus of Operations,’ has just issued
from the press, and is, in the opinion of scien-
tific men, one of the most profound produc-
tions that the Mathematical world has pet giv-
en to society.
A Telegraphic dispatch
Journal, dated New York,
says:
“Advices from Centeral America state that
there is an English blockade at San Salvador,
and also a threatened one of Nicaragua.” :
It is announced in the English papers that
Sir John Herchel. the astronomer, will succeed
Mr. Richard Shie! as “Master of the Mint ”
One of our contemporaries describes it as a de-
scent from the “sublime” to the “ridiculous.”
We think it a very good appointment—a snuo-
place for a man of science, with good pay.
little to do, and ample leisure to devote to
scientific pursuits. It is an appointment, we
believe, for life, and was once held by Sir
Isaac Newton, who made many of his grandest
discoveries and publications while holding the
office.
The Newly Invented Voting Machine.
The Washington correspondent of the
Charleston Newsin hisletterof the 29th ultimo
says :
I understand that Congress will shortly
make a trial of the newly indented voting ma-
chine, recently introduced into the French
Chamber o! Deputies, for it is a notorious fact
that, more than oue-filihof the lime is now oc-
cupied in taking the yeas and nays.
I he Patent Laws.—Congress is attempt-
ing to amend the Patent Laws, and has sub-
mitted some-w;holesome provisions for the se-
surity of inventors and the public, and limit-
ing the discretionary powers of the Patent
Office. One o! the provisions requires that
uniform rules shall he prepared,, open in the
office to the inspection of all applicants, which
shall be observed with impartiality in ail cases.
Another requires the Commissioner of Patents
to keep a record of the date of receipt of every
original paper, and not allow them to be re-
moved from the office ; and where an applica-
tion for a patent is rejected, requiring the
Commissioner to cause a record of his reasons
for his decision. So also in extending or reis-
suing a patent; certified copies of these and
all other records arid correspondence are made
evidence, in all cases, in the same manner as
originals would be if duly proved. Another
object sought is to protect the true inventor.—
By the Scire Facias one trial will determine
the validity of the- patent. Now no patent is
deemed safe or valuable property until re-
peated trials and judgments have been obtain-
ed in its favor. This will diminish litigation
for patents, and render them more secure and
valuable property.
mineral i7twuui.nyuc. mi mu muksmsi me c
apertu
.... ~ Ladder, in
which a large man could hardly enter, ar
desired the party which accompanied him t
explore it. The guide and two or three c
the party objected, as the aperture appeare-
to descend rapidly, and they feared theymicrh
meet with bad air. By a little pursuasfon
however, they were prevailed upon to make
the exploration. With much difficulty they
descended some forty feet, when to their great
astonishment, they found themselves in an im-
mense apartment. They immediately de-
termined to fully explore the cave they had
discovered. They found that this room open-
ed into others, and these into still others, and
that apparently there was no termination to
the cave. I hey followed the main passage
some ioupor five miles according to their best
calculations, when they were admonished by
their lights that they must return. On their
return, they visited some of the room^ which
they had passed, in which they form’d iarae
beds of epsorn salts, in nearly a puRe stare.
Vv e are also informed that the cave contains
uue specimens of saltpetre, piaster of paris
alabaster, etc., of which the party procured1
many fine specimens.
We can now say to our sister State Ken-
tucky, that; Indiana has a cavern which far
surpasses the Great Mammoth, and the last
discovery, m connection with the Great Indi-
ana Gave, will make it one of the largest in
the United States.
It is about eleven miles from Corrydon in
a southwest direction, and about seven north
ot Leavenworth.
[ ■ ^as partially promised to write out
at lull length the notes taken on his visit to
thus remarkable cave, which we hope he will
do.—New Albany (hid.) Ledger.
The Emperor of Napoleon was not much
of a lady’s man. He had his lia-sons to be
sure, and has left several illegitimate proofs of
his infidelity both to Josephine and Marie
Louisa, behind him : but lie looked upon wo-
men as mere toys, and never permitted his
amours to interfere with his ambitious projects
or to steal one hour which camp or council de-
manded ot him. His descendants, and the
collateral branches of his family, however
seem to be rather inflammable, and not al-
ways very decent, in their intrigues. The Paris
correspondent of our grave and pious cotem-
porary, the Journal of Commerce, gives the
following on dit in relation to Peter Bonaparte
(a cousin ot the President of France) and the-
widevv of Berthier:
A New Corporation.—A member of the
Vermont Legislature recently proposed to in-
troduce a bill “To incorporate the Free Soil
party,” who might “by that name sue and be
sued, embrace and be embraced, annex and be
annexed, have a common seal, and enjoy all
the rights, privileges and planks still'left of
the Buffalo platform ;” with a second section
declaring the “natural song ofsaid corporation
to be “Old Mortality,’ which will be sung an-
nually.”
The Girls.—Not long since a marriage
was to he celebrated in the village church.
The minister, affer making a very eloquent
and touching discourse on the duties and rights
of those who were to be united, suddenly0ex
claimed : “Those who wish to be married will
please rise,” and immediately after there shot
up, above the seated multitude the heads ot a
crowd of young girls, who had understood the
remark which was addressed to the contract-
ing parties as a general invitation to all who
were desirous to leave the selfish state ofsin-
gle blessedness.—Bath [Me] Tribune.
Coincidence of Inventions.-—A letter
writer in Washington City states “ that very
frequently patents are granted to different
persons lor the same invention, the parties
having had their minds led into the same train
of thought from the existence of the same
difficulties. Thus, some time ago, a patent
was granted for a certain churn,°but 'before
this couid have been known far beyond the
walls of the Patent Office, two other'inventor
each from different parts of the country, laid
claim to the identical improvement. An in-
terference was accordingly declared, and rio
sooner had the decision been made in favor o;
the patentee than three other inventors were
found pressing their claims to the same inven-
tion. It presented an unprecedented case in
the history of the Patent Office, of seven per-
sons, each a bona fide inventor, all claiming
the same thing and about the same time, and
all from different portions of the country.”
An Abolitionist Thrashed in N. York.
—TheN. Y. Express, in giving an account ol
the proceedings before the U. S. Commission-
er in that city, in the fugitive slave case we
mentioned yesterday, says:
There has been a great excitement among
the abolitionists and colored population, all the
morning. Quite early, a large crowd of blacks
and a few white incendiaries gathered in front
of the Marshal’s office, and the merits of the
case were discussed with great gusto. One
abolitionist mounted on the steps and began to
denounce Washington, Taylor, Clay and other
great men as slaveholders ; another tried to
incite the blacks to acts of violence, saying
that if he was a negro, and the vile Marshal
was going to send one ol his countrymen to
slavery, lie would shoot him and all the rest
ot the slavery men. Upon this a Union man
caught him and gave him a sound thrashing.
A case that excites some scandal has just
been decided by orie of the courts of assize •
between the widow of Marshal Berthier,Row
Madam Clary, and Mr. Peter Bonaparte
cousin of President Napoleon, to whom she
had rented a small hoitek. It dkclosed a do-
mestic' life ot the tenant, who sits on the Moun-
tain in the Assembly, which might remind you
ol that ot Childe Harold before the poet"get
out on his pilgrimage. See the printed utri-
cle under this envelop. But, the details in it
°f jti® condition ot the furniture, and thede-
scription o! inmates, dogs, cats, and a lioness,
inMitJy express the disclosures in court, wiich
cause the reporter to repeat the EmperorNa-
poleon s remark concerning the quarr/lsof
his family “ Our dirty linen should bi pri-
vately washed.” Madam Clary is a tmsia
by marriage.
p f ‘1 ® steam engine is in agriculture, i. man-
ufactures, in commerce, and in the furows of
the water as ot the land, in the mil) non the
surface, in the mine within the bowel of the
earth, in the arsenal where slumber fie dark
thunderbolts ot devastating war, in tfe print-
ing-press, whence emanates the brigt light-
ningof intellectual strength, forging tff heavi-
est anchors, spinning the finest thruds, cut-
ting the hardest granite, weaving tfe softest
tissue—this faithful, willing, and indditigable
slave, through the watches ot the ight and
the glow of the day, executes the ilermina-
ble,'tasks which our wants, our dutic, our de-
sires, yea, our very hvdra-headed earice com-
manded it to fulfil.—Sheriff Gordo.
Southern Enterprise.—Te entire
amount of private subscriptions >o ,ie Atlan-
tic Steam Navigation Company a Charles-
ton. one hundred and twenty f v, thousand,
dollars, was taken up in that c'ityon Thurs-
day morning, the 3d inst., in a vershort time
after the hooks were opened, ff the act of
incorporation, a like amount of ?5,000 will
be loaned to the company by thfState, and
they have authority to extend thr capital to
one million of dollars. It is estrated, says
the Courier, that the above subription will
build the first ship, and that shmay be put
afloat by the first of July nex One sub-
subscription only went to the hijest amount
limited by the law ($12,000) finest was'for
smaller sums, many being for angle share,
Mr. Kennet. Loftus. an Engli gentleman,
who is now in the East, assistif in running
the boundary line between Tv;ey and Pern
sia, ‘writes home, describing discovery he
has made, that the ancient C'Ideans had a
system of underdraining their nds perfectly
similar to the improved systerfiow in vogue
in England ; their draining til, which he has
found and traced, being- of pnsely the same
form and material as those us by the British
farmers.
Curious Charge of a Judge.—An article
in Blackwood’s Magazine on Modern State
Trials, contains the following anecdote; Mr.
Fletcher, a Judge in Ireland, in the year 1812
thus addressed an Irish jury in a trial for mur-
der occasioned in a duel; “Gentlemen, it is my
business to lay down the law to you, and I
shall do so. Where two people go out to fight
a duel, and one of them fall, the law says it is a
murder ; but, at the same time a fairer duel /
never heard of in the whole course of my life.”
The prisoners were of course immediately ac-
quitted.
t Misquotations.—‘He wJuns may read.’
No such passage exists irhe Scriptures,
though it is constantly quotas from them.—
It is usually the accompanist of expressions
relative to the clearness of waning or direc-
tion, the suppositions allusi being to an in-
scription written in very lge characters.—
The text in the prophet Hakkuk is the fol-
lowing : “ Write the visioind make it plain
upon the tables, that he iy run that read-
eth it.” (Ch. ii.. 2.) ere, plainly, the
meaning is. that every orieading the vision
should be alarmed by it,‘d should fly from
the impending oalamitytnd although this
involves the notion of le/dity and clearness,
that notion is the secomjq and not the pri-
mary one, as those persi1 make it who mis-
quote it in the manner ded above.—From.
Notes and Queries.
The Jesuits of Nr York.—A Jesuit
College has been built New York, in which
to intruct the growing flth—or a portion of
the growing youth—ohe city. There are
Priests of the order oesus, or “Jesuits,” in
the house, wffiose prinAl duties are to teach
the higher branches oScientific and -Classiri
cal Literature, togethmffh German, Italian
and French. The Cri?e, which, when fin-
ished, can accommoda 300 pupils, is rapidly
“drawing to completio
When acts of cou^y come gratuitously,
they are as acceptab^s the clear brook *
the thirsty traveler.
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Gibson, J. M. The Semi-Weekly Journal. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 100, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 16, 1851, newspaper, January 16, 1851; Galveston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth874453/m1/2/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting San Jacinto Museum of History.