The Semi-Weekly Journal. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 70, Ed. 1 Tuesday, October 8, 1850 Page: 2 of 4
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TUESDAY, OCT. 8, 1850.
Laws of the Extra Session.—The State
Gazette continues the publication of the laws
of the late extra session of our State Legisla-
ture. Those in the last number relate to the
following matters: Fixing the time of holding
courts in the third Judicial District; an appro-
priation of $1256 to reimburse Major Neigh-
bors; an appropriation of $10,000, from the
sale of city lots, to builiJfc. fire-proof land office
in Austin; Acts incorporating the “Sulphur
Fork Navigation Company,” the “ Central
Institute,” in Cass county, “Lockhart Acade-
my,” in Caldwell county, the “Colorado Na-
vigation Company,” and the “ San Antonio
Railroad Company;” an Act legalizing the
organization of the Buffalo Bayou Railroad
Co.; an Act perfecting titles in Castro’s colony;
an Act securing lands to settlers in Peters’ co-
lony. Some few private bills and' the per
diem appropriation to the members of the Le-
gislature, complete the list.
High Rates on Steamboats.
The Houston Telegraph thinks the rates
on the steamers between Houston and Gal-
veston should be reduced. We thing so too,
if it be as the Telegraph says^ that the com-
pany can afford it. We, however, know noth-
ing of the amount of business, or the profits,
of these steamers, and must be excused from
urging any advice based on such unreliable
data as the statement of our Houston neigh-
bor. The reasons why the Telegraph’s re-
marks should be received with great allow-
ance are, that its course on this very matter
has not only been characterized with its usual
inconsistency, but has been mixed up with
a selfishness, by no means becoming or in har-
mony with its pretensions.
The proprietors of the Telegraph were, we
believe, stock owners in these steamers previ-
ous to the purchase of the Farmer, but when
a call was made on the stock holders for
twenty dollars per share to purchase this ves-
sel the Telegraph men sold out.
During the time they were pecuniarily in-
terested, and while the rates were the same
as now, the Telegraph said not a word about
reduction; though accused, by our neighbor
of the “News,” in pretty direct terms, of be-
ing interestedly silent on the subject. Now,
however, the Telegraph has become very lib-
eral in its censure of the high rates, and even
charges the company with avarice. It says:
“ The owners of these boats have made im-
mense profits : but the desire for gain only
seems to increase with the increasiug capital.”
The Telegraph must have forgotten what
it said the other day about rogues always be-
ing the first to cry thief! thief!
The editor of the Telepraph is Mayor of
Houston. Let us see how the high rates of
the steamers compare with the charges made
by the Council over which he presides. The
freight on a barrel of merchandize from Gal-
veston to Houston, is -20c. The charge in
Houston for permission to land the said barrel
on the bayou bank, is 121c., which, to make it
go down easier, is termed “ wharfage.” Thus
7£c. more per barrel, is the charge for loading,
unloading and SO miles transportation, than
for the privilege of landing it at Houston. A
charge of one dollar is made on a buggy for
a like privilege, and all other articles in pro-
portion.
In addition, the tax levied by the city of
Houston, on the steamers, .($3 50 each trip)
amounted last year to about $900, all of which
the Mayor of that city has sunk in the mud
of the prairies. It is somewhat a mystery to
ua why the merchants of Houston endured
this enormous tax so long. It should be abo-
lished, and the landing free. We are mista-
taken in our predictions if this onerous burthen
on transient merchandize will prove good poli-
cy in the end, and why the Telegraph should
_ leap over such a stumbling block as this,'to tilt
against the steamers, can only be accounted
for by his very sincere desire to benefit the
public—provided, nevertheless,—as the law-
yers say—it don’t interfere with his own pock-
Uew Orleans and Galveston.
The N. York Commercial Advertiser’says:
The merchants of New Orleans may be
likened to harvesters in a naturally fertile
land; they gather in the crops with scarcely
any attention to the proper sewing of seed.
The applicability of this comparison to some
of our merchants, induces us to copy it. The
present hour’s sales seem to shut-in the vision
and expectations of too many. The trades-
man who is so engrossed with selfish views,
as to wish his neighbors to carry out every
public enterprise, without contributing his
mite, or lending a helping hand, is a clog on
the community in which he lives. Such men
may be found every where, and we are sorry
to say that Galveston harbors a few of them.
The lack of enterprise, in Galveston, has been
noted abroad. The reputation, and what is
of vastly more importance, the interests of our
town, have suffered from the absorbing sel-
fishness of many of our people. It is not our
pourpose to interfere with, or dictate to men
who claim to be wiser than ourselves, how
they should dispose of their property; but it
behooves those who have something at stake
in the welfare of our totvn, to note those who
contribute to its advancement] and those who
do not, and so far as is in their powrer, reward
them accordingly.
If we mistake not, public favor has hereto-
fore encouraged this very selfishness and lack
of enterprise of which all so loudly complain.
At the Court of Common Pleas, now
in session at Idonesdale, Pa., the Grand Jury
of Wayne county brought in a bill of indict-
ment against a law of the Legislature prohi-
biting the circulation of bank bills for a less
amount than five dollars. The Judge made
a valliant stand against the -jury, but they
succeeded in their determination to redeem
small bills from the title of “nuisances,” by
deciding the law abolishing them a nuisance.
Correspondence of tUe “Journal.”
Health in Eastern Texas—Crops—Trinity
Valley—Trade with Galveston—Improve-
ment of the River—Eastern Texas in fa-
vor of the Boundary Bill.
Houston, Oct. 4, 1850.
Editor of Journal: I have recently tra-
veled through the various counties between
Harrison and Harris, and it affords me much
pleasure to state that universal health prevails
throughout the country. The crop of cotton
will be nmch better than was anticipated a
few months since, though nothing like a furf
average crop. The season for picking, thus
far, has been as good as could be desired, and
the planters are diligently improving it. At
least one-fourth more cotton will be made in
the Trinity Valley this than in any previous
year; and if boats are up the river in time, a
large proportion of it will find its way to Gal-
veston. The people in the vicinity of Trinity
are disposed to establish commercial relations
with Galveston.
In the vicinity of Three Forks of Trinity
a censiderable amount of cotton is now being
made. The people in that section are busily
engaged in removing the obstructions to the
navigation of Trinity river. It is confidently
believed that steamboats will be able to as-
cend as high a^Dallas.
A very large majority of the people in the
counties through which I have traveled are in
favor of accepting of the Compromise offered
us by the United States Congress, in relation
to our State boundary. I feel confident that
at least two-thirds of the votes east of
Trinity will be cast in that way. The people
of that section have no idea of going to war
with their fellow-citizens of the North for
mere abstractions. They look upon the pro-
positions of the United States Congress as
quite liberal in their character. To most of
the Eastern Texans it is sufficieni to know
that Gen. Rusk voted for the Compromise.
A very heavy emigration is coming into the
Northeastern counties. Land is rapidly appre-
ciating in value. Yours, &c., TEXAS.
The Turkish Envoy.—The first native
Turk who ever visited the United States, is
Emir Bey, the Envoy sent to investigate the
improvements in shipping, &c. He was, at
last accounts, in Washington city, where great
attention was paid to him, and a handsome
sum appropriated by Congress to pay his ex-
penses. In New York he was serenaded and
visited by the ladies, who were quite curious
to see a live Turk. One of the Broadway
belies even kissed the Envoy’s son, a youth
of nineteen, which he took as an insult. Next
time she’ll be more prudent in dispensing her
favors on Turks.
Emir Bey is, by rank, a post-captain in the
Turkish navy, and entitled to four wives,
though he has but one at present.
The Matagorda Tribune does not be-
leive that the abolition|correspondent of its
N. Y. namesake, who dated his letter from
Matagorda, resides in that place.
England.—“ Spectator,” the London cor-
respondent of the N. Y. Commercial Adver-
tiser, in his letter of the 12th ult., by the Asia,
says:
The prospectsof the money market continue
bright, although there has been less activity
during the last day or two. Setting aside any
accidental causes of disturbance, a rise in the
value of property of all descriptions may
henceforth confidently be anticipated, and it
would not excite surprise if this should go on
to a point which may ultimately enable the
Government to reduce the interest on the na-
tional debt from 3 to 2| per cent. The fact of
an increase in the revenue of £518,000 during
the last quarter, coupled with an augmenta-
tion of between £3,000,000 and £4,000.000 in
the declared value of our exports, within the
same period, and the certainty of a stehdy in-
crease in the bullion of the bank, which has
already remained for several months at a high-
er amount than was ever before known, must
speedily lead to results of a remarkable kind.
Railways show no revival, and the morbid
distrust which they have occasioned wiU sfill
for some time prevent anything like the growth
of sufficient faith between man and man to
admit of a new development of the spirit of
enterprise, but the public will before long dis-
cover that by sweeping away the entire body
of people who have hitherto had the control
of these concerns, there is yet a possibility of
their revival, and with the cheerfulness that
will be restored, a new era will be open. As
the rate of interest for money gradually de-
clines from its present point of If per cent, an
impatience will gradually arise which will
cause it to spread over new fields. The chief
direction it will take at that period will be
Central America and the Pacific, but the
movement wall not commence until confidence
and cupidity shall have been roused by the
success of individuals and companies on your
side, and by the facts of California being irre-
sistably forced upon us by a continuance of the
constant arrivals»of its produce, which are now
taking place.
Wholesale Destruction of Slavers.—
Capt. Jones of the American steamer New
York, reports the British steamer Comorant,
surveying vessel on the Brazilian Station,
having learned that a depot for fitting out Sla-
vers existed in the vicinity ofhis operations,
made search and found it up one of the rivers
or bays at a place called Paranhanihibo, and
then occupied by one ship, one bark, and two
brigs—the latter of which had apparently jus1
landed her cargo. The Comorant made fast
to the four vessels and towed them outside of
the harbor, sank one, burnt two, and sent the
other to St. Helena. While performing this
duty, she was subjected to a severe fire from
the Fort which guarded the harbor, and report
says had two or three men killed; she return-
ed and attacked the Fort and razed it to the
ground.
After this news had arrived at Rio Janeiro,
the populace became much exasperated and
made an attack on some British Naval Officers
then on shore there, and alsoon the foreigners
generally, and it is said some ofthe latter°were
killed. The officers were compelled to take
refuge in a hotel, whence they were conduct-
ed to their boats by an armed police, in order
to protect them from the violence of the mob.—
Ropal Gaz.
Beauty, as the flowing blossom, soon fades;
but the divine excellency of the mind, like
the medicinal virtues of the plant, remain in j
it, when all those charms are withered.
Alabama Marble.—A new marble quarry
has been discovered in Alabama near Sylla-
cogga, in Talladega county. In quantity it is
inexhaustibly and competent judges have pro-
nounced it the best in the United States, and
equal to the richest specimens found in Eu-
rope.
O’Brien Meeting.—A New York letter of
the 18th inst.:
“ There was a rather uproarious demonstra-
tion at Tammany Hall last evening, but it all
ended good naturedly enough. The purpose
Was to sympathize with the exiled Irish patri-
ot, Smith O’Brien—but there appeared to be
two strong opposing parties in the room—
one, led by Mr. Dobeny, who does not believe
in any more talk about the wrongs of Ireland,
but rather in the efficacy of the sword; the
other, who thought that the British Govern-
ment was not yet deaf to remonstrance and
persuasion, and who would, therefore pass a
series of resolutions in that hope. Horace
Greeley, Michael Doheny, Robert Hennesey,
and Mike Walsh addressed the meeting.”
Henry Clay and Mr. Foote.—The fol-
lowing letter from Mr. Clay speaks for itself:
Washington, Aug. 29. 1S50.
Gentlemen: I have the pleasure to acknow-
ledge the receipt of your letter, inviting me to
attend a public dinner, proposed to be given
in honor of General Henry S. Foote, at War-
renton, on the 21st instant. I should be most
happy to be able to attend on that interesting
occasion, as well on account, of the gratification
I should derive from meeting many highly es-
teemed friends of both political parties, in the
county of Fauquier, as to testify by my pres-
ence and assistance to the very high merits of
the distinguished Senator from Mississippi.—
Prior to the present session of Congress I had
only a casual and limited acquaintance with
him, and I came to Washington with impres-
sions somewhat unfavorable towards him.—
These have not only been entirely removed
by my personal and official intercourse with
him, but his course and conduct during this
long, protracted, and arduous session, have im-
pressed me with the conviction that he is an
ardent, able,, and enlightened patriot. In the
trying scenes which have passed, and are
passing, no one has surpassed him in firm de-
votion to that Union which I believe to be the
surest and best guarantee of all political bless
ings. Prompt, ready, and full of information
in debate, he has sought, with untiring indus-
try and patriotic zeal, to'heal and adjust the
agitations and dissensions which unhappily af-
fectour common country. Such a distinguish-
ed statesman deserves to be honored and che-
rished every where, but especially in that
State which gave him, you, and me, our birth
respectively. I regret 'that my public duties
here forbid my sharing in the testimony in-
tended to be rendered to him at Warrenton.
I hope that the festival will realize all your
anticipations, and be worthy of the ancient
Dominion, and of her patriotic son from Mis-
sissippi.
I am, gentlemen, with the highest respect,
your friend and obedient servant,
'___H. CLAY.
Grand Lodge of the United States.—
At the Grand Lodge, Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, in annual session at Cincinnati,
twenty-four Grand Lodges and twenty Grand
Encampments are present. The expenses of
the adjourned session were upwards of $5000.
The assessment law of the last session was
repealed by a decided vote—ayes 63. nays 8.
—Baltimore Sun.
This law was enacted at the session 1849,
and placed all the representatives on the same
basis, by allowing a certain per diem and tra-
veling expenses, for which each Grand Lodge
was. (besides the ordinary tax of $20 for each
representative.) taxed according to the num-
ber of members under its jurisdiction. The
action of the Grand Lodge of the U. States
in regard to this subject was vehemently op-
posed, by a large minority of its members,
and during the recess, the. subject has been
ably discussed and treated by many of the
Grand Lodges of the United States. By the
action above, the old system is restored, and
each Grand Lodge is required to pay its re-
presentatives and representative if—Pica-
yune.
The Taxation Question in England.—
In his letter of the 5th instant, the London
correspondent of the National Intflligencer
says:
Direct or indirect taxation will, it is sup-
posed, be the basis of the great contest in
Parliament at the next session. The discus-
sion of the continuance of the income tax will
raise the question in all its force. The au-
thority of Sir Robert Peel and the pressure of
a deficiency in the revenue, will be wanting in
the support of that measure. It is admitted
that no statesman ofthe present day could
have carried that measure but Sir Robert,and
even he would have failed had not the threat-
ening deficiency supplied the strongest possi-
ble argument. Sir Charles Wood, with a
surplus, it may be of three millions, is a very
different man. in a very different position.—
The Liberals in Parliament will support the
scheme of direct taxation, provided it be laid
upon fair principles, which at present it is not.
The Whig Ministry will be weak upon the
question, because they will be opposed by
both branches of the Conservatives, arid Lord
John Russell will then experience the want
of Sir Robert Peel. The general feeling of
the people is in favor of the income tax and
direct taxation, under a just and fair arrange-
ment. The issue is doubtful, but we think
the question will be strongly agitated.
Bishop of California.—The Rt. Rev.
Dr Allemany has arrived in Dublin from
Rome, where he was consecrated Bishop of
California.
Some say that Mary’s breast is steel—
The lying rascals have forgotten
That bosoms now have ceased to feel,
And why I because they’re made of cotton.
A disappointed old bachelor, out west, says
“it makes little difference whether a man com-
mits suicide or matrimony! In one cases he
loses his life, and in the other, his breeches 1”
Dreadful Shipwreck.—A Boston despatch
of the 13th ult. saysf
The schooner Canton, arrived at Glouces-
ter, reports taking from a raft, on the 9th inst..
thirty-five miles northeast of Cape Sable, four
men, who report that they were a part of the
crew of the bark Messenger from St. John,
N. B., for Liverpool, which vessel capsized in
a squall the previous day, and ten of the crew
including officers, was drowned. One man
was saved on two planks and a piece of board
—the other three on a raft made of nine pieces
of plank. They remained clinging to the
raft twenty-one hours before they were res-
cued.
An Irishman, not long since in Rochester,
puzzled the delivery clerks at the Post Office
in that city, with the following interrogatories:
“Have yez any lost letters here ? for its my-
self that has lost a letter, and if yez have it.
will you tell me who its from ?”
The Assault on Haynau Justified.—
Wilmer’s European Times thus speaks ofthe
recent assault in London, on the renowned
Haynau:
“ There are some things which our island
gallantry cannot endure. We abhor the flog-
gingof females, whose husbands and relatives
have rushed to arms in defence of the privi-
leges of their native land. We sicken instinc-
tively at the brutality that would violate the
purity of womanhood, and debase and de-
grade all that men of properly constituted
feelings respect and revere. Such a wretch
has found his way to England, and it will excite
little surprise, certainly no sympathy, that he
was mobbed, hocussed, and maltreated in the
metropolis on Wednesday. To call such a
monster as Haynau a man or a soldier, is a
prostitution of terms. His treatment of the
noble and spirited Hungarian ladies, whom
the fortunes of war threw into his power, was
an insult to human nature and an outrage on
the dignity of our species, which every man
in a free country is justified in resenting. The
punishment which this military savage expe-
rienced on the day referred to was made ad-
ditionally mortifying because it was inflicted
by the humblest of the population. Even the
draymen of Messrs. Barclay & Perkins’s
brewhouse felt that the atrocities which Hay-
nau had perpetrated in Hungary forfeited all
claim on his part to the courtesy which a fo-
reigner would be otherwise entitled to receive.
The insult which they put upon this Austrian
butcher, whose flogging of females, and hang-
ing and quartering of men, degrade the chi-
valry of arms to the warfare of savages, was
the outpouring of strong natural instinct. It
shows that in the breast of the humblest Bri-
tish citizen the milk of human kindness is to
be found overflowing.”
Franc e—Louis Napoleon—Cavaignac—
A Prediction.—The Paris correspondent of
the National Intelligencer, referring to Louis
Napoleon, in his letter of the 5th inst., says :
Pie will never abandon, but with his life, the
idea, the hope, the project of one day reigning
in this country as heir and nephew of the Em-
peror. As he has the advantage of being al-
ready in possession of power, I think, if the
parties in France be left to fight it out alone,
(for it will have to be fought out if foreign
nations do not intervene,) that Louis Napoleon
is more likely than any of the pretenders to
place the crown for a time upon his brow.—
But he will not fix it there. Depend upon it,
Louis Napoleon is not of the stuff that an Em-
peror of the French must be made of in the
middle of the nineteenth century. France
must have ere long an absolute ruler. Pie will
not belong to either of the three families that
have been upon the throne. No one yet knows
who it will be. Events will produce him. If
it be one with whose name we are at all fa-
miliar now, I predict that it will be Cavaignac.
“ What! he is republican,” methinks you say,
“ an honest and moderate republican.’* Yes,
he is republican, if you please; but, rely upon
if he is of the school, not of Washington, but
of the first Bonaparte.
Fast Shaving.—The St. Louis Revellie
tells the following good story :
Three brothers, bearing a remarkable re-
semblance to one another, are in the habit of
shaving at a barber’s shop in Oliver street.—
A few days since one of the brothers entered
the shop early in the morning, and was duly
shaved by a German, who had been at work-
in the establishment for one or two days.—
About 12 o’clock another brother came in and
underwent a similar operation at the hands of
another person. In the evening a third bro-
therYnade his appearance, when the German
operative dropped his razor in astonishment,
and exclaimed, “Veil, mine cot! dat man
hash the fastest beard I ever saw. I shaves
him in dis mornin, anoder shaves him at dinner
time, and he goes back now wit his beard as
long as it never was.”
What is Fame?—In the interesting debate
in the Senate on the resolution to appropriate
$10,000 to the reception of the Turkish Am-
bassador, Mr. Seward, of N. York, made the
following statement:
Mr. Seward. I thank the honorable sena-
tor who has recalled the incident of the visit
of the ambassador who came with a present
from the Imaum of Muscat. If I remember
well, the ambassador was not in the roll of
common men-. He was a minister at home—
a Secretary of State. I passed through the
navy yard at Brooklyn with him. Among
the objects of curiosity and interest there, 1
pointed his notice to an exquisite bustof Wash-
ington. He looked, upon it thoughtfully, and
inquired “Who was Washington?”
School Boy Wit.—A short time since, as
a well known English master in a grammar
school was censuring his pupil for the dulness
of his comprehension, and consenting to in-
struct him in a sura of Practice—he said, “ Is
not the price of a penny loaf always a penny?”
when the boy innocently answered—“ No. sir,
the bakers sell them two {ox three pence when
they are stale.” Stale wit is seldom as good
as this.
How a Jackass became Respected.—
Laku, King of Siam, being awakened from
sleep and saved from assassination by the
braying of an ass, commanded, in the ardor of
his gratitude, that all mankind should be called
asses. The story tells us that whenever an
ambassador from China came to the Siamese
Court, the master of ceremonies proclaimed :
“ Most potent Laku, absolute Lord of the Uni-
verse, King of the white Elephants and keep-
er of the sacred tooth ! a great Jackass! from
China, has come to speak with your majesty.”
Our friend, the “Wisconsin Elder,” takes a
very despairing view of society. In a late
sermon on “total depravity,” he observed that
“we are all fellow-sarpents, walking about, on
the tips of our tails.” The elder next week
will reduce Lot’s wife to a pickle, after which
a collection will be taken up for supplying co-
logne to the colored population.
Soaring up Some.—The Reading, Pa.,
correspondent of the New York Tribune, re-
lieves himself ofthe following: “Yesterday
it rained all day, but to-day Aurora stretched
out her rosy fingers and pulled the gray,
gauzy, misty, night cap from the head of
Mount Penn, washed her rosy face and snowy
breast in trembling dew, and bathed her feet
in the Schulkill.” What did she wipe them
with ?
The census of the United States, taken in
1840. shows that there were at that time, 3,-
719,951 persons employed in agricultural pur-
suits; - 791,749 in manufactures; 117,607 in
commerce; 15,211 in mining; 56.021 in navi-
gating the ocean ; 33.076 in internal naviga-
tion ; and 65,255 in the learned professions.—
The number of persons employed in agricul-
ture and commerce had not doubled in twenty
years, while the number of those engaged in
manufacturing had.
Milwaukie, in June last, had 20,035 inhabi-
tants, an increase of 5974 since 1847. In 1834
Solomon Juneau was the only white male in-
habitant. What a country —what a people !
Spirit of the Foreign Mails.— France.
—Another very pointed attempt, the hundred
and thirty-fifth, to assassinate Louis Napoleon
with the bayonet, has signally failed. All the
conspiracies against him have exploded, ex-
cept the gunpowder plot.
Madame Dudevant has published another
novel. She still continues to throw sand in
the eyes of the people.
Japan.—The immense bed-candlestick and
tea-tray manufactory, owned by the govern-
ment, and from which the kingdom derives its
name, was destroyed recently. The govern-
ment is short of tin in consequence.
China.—Several very heavy smashes have
taken place recently, in the large houses, but
things are now mending, and promise to be
more firmly cemented in future. The Prince
Bohea has been united to the Duchess Sou-
chong, a youthful celestial widow, who was
supposed to love Young Hyson. The tea
trade has gone to pot.
Poland.—The Emperor Nicholas still keeps
stirring up the unlbrtunate natives, and has
introduced the science of Polandricals. The
supply of bear’s grease and hair oil is good.
Russia.—Ducks for pants are fashionable;
the supply of tallovV-is waxing low. The in-
troduction of drafts into the business has
caused a visible decline.
England.—France is endeavoring to take
John Bull by the horns, and has found itself
on the tips of a dilemma.
Ireland.—The public is getting its back up
about abolishing the Lord-Lieutenancy. It
is the opinion of national reformers that if the
Lord-Lieutenant leaves, there will be scarcely
a tenant left to leave.
Hungary.—The Austrians are experimen-
talizing on a new diet of bayonets and bullets.
It is expected the steel may sharpen their ap-
petites, but the people cannot be led to be-
lieve it.
Turkey.—The country is devoting itself to
raising gobblers and rhubarb for the World’s
Convention.— True Delta.
The Irish Landlord.
The Duke of Devonshire is the present pro-
prietor of nearly the whole town of Bandon,
county of Cork, and of an immense tract of
the county adjoining. His grace is, on the
whole, one of the best specimens of the class
of absentee landlords. An incident illustrating
his disposition to do justice, where he really
sees his way in his dealing with his tenantry,
was related to us by a person residing in the
neighborhood: “ A tenant ofthe duke’s named
•Wilson, received notice from one ofthe duke’s
agents to quit at the apprsaching expiry of
his lease. Wilson who had always paid his
rent with punctuality, solicited a renewal, at
whatever rent could be fairly expected from
a stranger. The agent, however, had ob-
tained the farm either for himself or some fa-
vorite of his. Wilson’s entreaties were fruit-
less, and when he found it was impossible to
soften the obduracy of the man in office, he
said to him—; Well, Sir, as I can’t have my
farm, will your honor have the goodness, at
any rate, to give me a character that may
help me to get a farm somewhere else.’ To
this the agent assented with alacrity, as an
easy mode of getting rid of Wilson’s impor-
tunities. He gave him a flourishing character
for honesty, and agricultural intelligence.—
Wilson no soonei got hold of the document
than he sailed for London, where, with great
difficulty, he succeeded at last in getting ac-
cess to the duke. He stated his own past
merits as a tenant, his claim to a preference at
the same rent any solvent stranger would be
willing to pay. The Duke readily admitted
the justice of the claim. ‘ Now, my lord duke,’
continued Wilson, tendering to his grace the
written certificate of character Mr.--had
given him, “ will you just look at what your
agent himself says about me, and see whether
I am the sort of man he ought to dispossess.”
The duke read the paper, and expressed his
great surprise that his agent should centem-
plate the ousting of such a valuable tenant.
‘ I’ll tell you how you will meet him,’ continued
his grace ; c he expects you to give up posses-
sion on the next term day, now; when he
come to receive it. instead of giving him your
farm, give him a letter I shall put into your
hands, strictly commanding him to give you
a renewal. Meanwhile be quite silent on the
subject, in order that Mr.- may enjoy
all the pleasures of surprise.’ Wilson kept
his counsel until term day, and we may easily
imagine the chagrin of the discomfited agent
when, instead of the coveted farm, he received
the duke’s letter confirming the possession of
the tenant.”—Burke's Anecdotes of the Aris-
tocracy.
The Upas Tree.—A correspondent of the
New York Post, writing from on board the U.
S. ship Plymouth, atBorneo, in the East Indies,
says:
“Below Bruni is a real Upas tree, it is spo-
ken of in Keppel’s vyork. I send you a twig.
It is a magnificent tree about two feet or more
in diameter, and rising sixty feet without a
branch ; there it spreads with a dense green
foliage. The trunk is smooth and of a dirty
silvery color. Upon wounding it, a milky se-
cretion exudes rapidly. I collected some for
our cabinet. This is mixed with other juices,
and used as a poison for arrows. Except
when taken internally, or thrown into the
circulation through a wound, I believe it is
perfectly harmless. If it were not so, I should
suffer, for you know how susceptible I am to
vegetable poisons. I tried to get enough for
a cane for you, but could not. The only way
we obtained the leaves, was by shooting our
guns into the lofty branches. The leaves
however, are some curiosity, for I doubt if
there are any others in the United States.
Billy Patterson.—It is announcEii in the
columns of the N. Y. Evening Post, that Miss
Mary Hurlbut struck Mr. William M. Patter-
son “all in a heap,” on the 4th ult., and the
act was witnessed by the Rev’d. Mr. Reede,
who could not prevent the outrage !
The fact that the perpetrator of this out-
rage on the redoubtable “ William” wore pet-
ticoats, accounts for the difficulty of discover-
ing who done it. This is a propitious time
for settling important questions. Within a
few weeks, vast political questions have been
adjusted. It has also been established that
saltpetre will explode ; and now the perplex-
ing interrogatory can .easily be answered—
who struck Billy Patterson?
For the Galveston Journal.
To tlic “Lilly.”
Whr re is our home ? ’tis where the heart
Has garner’d all its hopes and fears;
Bound by no sea, mark’d on no chart,
’Tis where the mind its altar rears;
On barren plain, inflow’ry dell—
’Tis where the lov’d ancbcherish’d dwell.
Though kings may rule, or despots sway,
Or freedom’s altars nobly blaze ;
The sun, through brightest summer’s day,
Finds not, beneath his searching gaze,
So fresh, so fair, so green a spot,
As where the heart has cast its lot.
’Tis love that gives the flow’rs perfume,
’Tis love that ip.akes the air serene,
’Tis love that gives the desert bloom,
And throws a halo round the scene.
There is a charm within the breast,
Where kindly love hath breath’d and blest.
Affairs in Cuba.
We had the pleasure this morning of con vers-
ing with a merchant of this city who has just re-
turned from a visit to the island of Cuba. He repre-
sents the excitement there in relation to the Lopez
expedition as still being very intense. The ex-
peaiton is the subject of conversation among all
classes, and a very strong feeling against the
American residents and those who visit the island
on buisness has sprung up as one of the evils of
that ill advised movement. Our informant is
confident that the trading class, the merchants, are
almost unanimously in favor ofthe revolutionary
movement, and would aid it so far as in their
power, without rendering themselves liable to de-
tection.
The. authorites are very minute and rigid in their
examination of foreigners arriving at the island,
and they are not always noted for their gentle-
manly demeanor while pursuing their investi-
gations.
Military discipline is still enforced with rigor,
the military being required to drill regulary.
Guards are stationed on the wharves at Cardenas
every night: and the most vigilant precautions are
taken to prevent a surprise. While our informant
was there, a great alarm was created by a smoke
which.was seen on one of the islands in the bay,
and which was caused by a fire left by a party who
had visited the island. The Cubans thought it was
a steamer with troops, waiting for the approach
of night to efi'uct a landing. R.econnoitering parties
were sent out, and as they failed to get any satis-
factory solution ofthe mystery, the regular troops
were ordered out, and, headed by the Governor,
were stationed along the wharves, where they re-
mained during the night. The militia were also
placed under arms, ready for action at a moment’s
warning. The next day enabled them to ascertain
the cause of their groundless fears.
It is amusing to hear the rumors which prevail
on the arrival of a steamer from New York.—
One of the most current while our friend was
there, was that Garibaldi, the Italian patriot, had
pledged to Gen. Lopez, that if he he would effect
another landing with 5000 men, he (Garibaldi)
would, in {jive days after he heard of the fact, land
another force of 5000 men. Of oourse it was un-
derstood that the arrangements for such a-move-
ment were all complete—steamers in readiiiess,
men selected, &c. By many of the people these
rumors are belieyed to be well founded, and they
are in constant apprehension of another inva-
sion.—Boston Journal.
An Irish Mode of Serving A Writ.—
Two or three days since an Irish gentleman,
whose solicitor had vainly endeavored to serve
a writ on an ex-M. P. for an Irish borough
who resides at the west end of the metropoli-
tan suburbs, hit upon the following mode :—
Having sealed a stone dottle with an imposing
crest, and marked it “potheen,” he forwarded
it by an intelligent lad of thirteen, who was
previously well instructed, as a present from a
friend in the. West-end, with directions to be
delivered only to himself. The bait, took.
The old Irish follower who acts as duenna to
Mr.-, as his guardian against the too cap-
tivating approaches of bailiffs, did not think
there was anything to apprehend from a child,
bearing a bottle ofthe “ native.” She never
read Virgil, and knew nothing of the “Timeo
Donaos.” The master was called, and the
present handed duly over. “There is a note,
I believe, in the wrapper, sir,” observed the
messenger; “perhaps it would require an ans-
wer.” The ex-M. P. undid the newspaper
in which the present Was folded, and took out
an envelope. “There’s a wri t in that, sir,”
cried youngster; “you’re served,” and boun-
ding through the passage, was out of sight in
an instant, whilst the ex-senator looked as if
he was converted into a stone. Molly, with a
wet dish-cloth, which she flung after the lad,
foamed with rage, at being made the involun-
tary instrument of such a ruse. But the un-
kindest cut remained behind. Seeing lies mas-
ter quite out of sorts after dinner, she philoso-
phically urged him to make the best use of a
bad bargain, and take some of the “potheen,”
opening the bottle for the purpose; but who
can express her indignant amazement at find-
ing the contents were aqua pura ? She vent-
ed a volley ol oaths in mingled Celtic and
Saxon, against the “hang-gallows gossoon”
by whom she had been thus doubly deceived.
[London Sunday Times.']
Unreliability of Architectural Esti-
mates.—The estimated cost of the new House
of Parliament in London, by Mr. Barry, the
architect, was £700.000. The buildings are
not more than half finished, and their cost has
already exceeded £2,500,000, The general
rule in building a private house is to double
the highest estimates of the architect or build-
er ; but in all public buildings it will be near-
er the mark to quadruple the estimates, and
then the cost will usually exceed the calcqla*
tions.
Consolidation of Piiiladelphia.-A large
meeting ofthe citizens of Philadelphia has
been held, presided over by the ex-Secretary
of the Treasury, Mr. Meredith, at which rer
solutions were adopted, declaring it the duty
of the Pennsylvania Legislature to pass a law
incorporating Philadelphia with enlarged
boundaries, which shall include the nine mu-
nicipalities and suburban districts,or the whole
of Philadelphia county, in a single city, with
a suitable form of government.
Abolition of the British Embassy in “Well, neighbor, what is the most Christian
Paris.—This is said to be the last year of the news this morning?” said a pious gentleman
existence ofthe English Embassy in Paris, of Providence, Rhode Island, to his friend,
all the embassies being about to be done away j ‘I have just boughta barrel of flour for a poor
with and cut downinto missions. Consequently woman.”
Lord Normanby, the present Embassador. “Just like you ? Who is it you have made
will have t# quit a very snug and comfortable ! happy by your charity this morning ?”
place which he has filled several years. j “My wife.”
The Endless Versatility of Lord
Brougham.—That the King never dies, and
Lord Brougham never sleeps, are two leading
features of English constitutional doctrine.
Wheneverthe time may come, and we sincere-
ly trust it may be far distant, when the noble
and learned lord is nominally removed from
among us, we have little doubt that he will
step forward in any capacity, save that of mute,
to manage his own obsequies. He will wran-
gle with his own executors; throw his own es-
tate into chancery preview his own biography,
which is now lying in Lord Campbell’s desk;
pronounces his own funeral oration in the
House of Peers, and show himself visibly af-
fected for five minutes at his own death ; and
when we imagine that we have nothing left
for it but to reduce our grief within the decent
limits of manly fortitude, we shall be presently
convinced that our sorrow was premature by
receiving the intelngeuce that the departed
worthy has just made his appearanceusprimo
tenore at La Scala, or is the head of a Pro-
visional Government at Thraen.— Times.
K
£
A
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Gibson, J. M. The Semi-Weekly Journal. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 70, Ed. 1 Tuesday, October 8, 1850, newspaper, October 8, 1850; Galveston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth875071/m1/2/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting San Jacinto Museum of History.