The Hempstead Courier (Hempstead, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 1, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 1, 1859 Page: 1 of 4
four pages : ill. ; page 24 x 17 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
¡fe
k,:
1
¡ 'M'-
i
i.
ll
" , v #v ■ ¿ffi
* , " í> * *, • .■
v>':;5í
Lfcw ¥i:.
THE
IJfc
ANDREW HAESCHALE SB.,
n-yfryr"'
• .é^NRP
[QPEN TO ALL PARTIES, CONTROLLED BY NONE.]
$f®i®
VOL. 1.
HEMPSTEAD, AUSTIN COUNTY, TEXAS, JUNE 1, 1859.
MISCELLANEOUS.
H 'A*
From the Now York Ueicury.
SMOKING AN INDIAN.
an incident of a trapper's life.
BY J. P. STORY.
One cool, pleasant evening in Octo-
ber, some fifteen years since, far in the
deep forest recesses of North Wiscon-
sin, were gathered round a bright camp
fire some twenty men, who lay around
upon the soft earth in reclining posi-
tions, and made the woods ring with
theiy light laughter aftd wild soug.—
The most were hardy, rough trappers,
born and bred to thoir life, who were
now rejoicing at the unusual success
of the day among the beaver: but they
were not all tried and experienced trail-
ers in those wilds. Among them were
hree persons, who, raised and bred in
a palace, and used to all the Comforts
of the rich, seemed little fit for that wil-
derness. Harry and Wallace Semper
were the two sons of an English baro-
net—reared in luxury, and supplied
with every want from youth upward.
But as young and ardent hearts do,
they grew tired of the monotonous
life of too much good, and they yearned
for those wild adventures in the path-
less woods, which were not obtainable
in their own fair land. Consequently,
when they attained a sufficient agetliey
received the consent of their lather to
start for the "States." The good old
baronet gave them a parting injunction
to take care of themselves, and keep
the hair on their heads: and then turn-
ed again to his ale and his paper, and
seemed as unconcerned as tho' nothing
had happened. Poor inanl he never
saw them again.
They met, as by previous appoint-
ment, a cousin in New York—Charley
Samper—as hearty and generous a man
as over trod the earth. They spent
sdme time in visiting the neighboring
"¿.¡ties, and then started over-land for
"it Louis, accompanied by their hence-
forth sworn companion, Charley. They
then rambled considerablyin that part
of the country: and after some time
spent tllus, took a berth in a steamer
and wentfup to St Paul. Meeting hero
. party of trappers, bound for Winne-
bago, in Wisconsin, for furs, they at
once and unanimously agreed to pro-
ceed with them, and made the necessa-
ry arrangements.
They looked not at the toil and hard-
ships to come, but only saw the bright
aide of affairs, and thought,of the wild
Hints, the night-stalking, and a thous-
and other things—which were all they
Wshcd to see, all they cared for seeing.
They had now been out from St Paul
«orne two weeks, and were capping
r the Wisconsin river, where, as
„ were a few beavers, they stopped
short time. .
lere were some tiresome marches
jjh tangled underbrush, and wet
Ok and many other little inconven-
. f; but our friends overlooked all
matters of that kind, and enjoyed
gives heartily.
aal deer hunt or scrim-
; or m'ore danger-
rried dinner of cold
^nstant beauty of the
Rightful to our friends
occasion to repent
ove all, it was
ther around the
it-full, and after
ings of appe-
n-Btcak roast-
listen to the
appers whose
at wild west,
ostión, the h >r-
u drawn up,
of the supper
to tho hnn-
ab.iut, draw-
ilue smoke from
en the young men
the clay stem—for
Ce found that Hava-
were not to be ha/J,
followed that gooi
Y, do as tho Turks do.
come across a party of
day, and consequently
was the subject of the
said Harry, in the way
and addressing him-
t his side—"I sup-
seen a great deal
rday."
the man—one
-"I guest. 1
T"
(M
guesfc
¡í'J *,
*4
"Any perticktiler time with 'em?"
suggested one of the trappers.
"Many of them," was the reply; "but
perhaps you wouldn't like to hecr how
I fixed one in Dane county a number of
years back—hey?"
"Oh, yes! by all means I exclaimed
Wallace, "lets have it I"
And they did have it.
There were no preliminaries. Simon
knocked the ashes from his pipe, re-
placed it in his buckskin pouch at his
belt, and began:
"It was jest about the time when
Gen. Atkinson give old Blaek-Huwk
such a drubin' down in Iowa. The.
Injuns war a gettin' kinder docile, and
I ventured to sot up a store down in
B , about ton miles from the set-
tlement which they call Janesville now.
There war mighty few cabins jeBt there
but I knew a lot over at Blue Mounds
and around that neighborhood, who
wanted sich a thing as a small store
near them, as it would be a great' sa-
vin' o' time and travel.
"So I went into an old stun house
which had been put up by some o' the
militia for stores, but which they had
left. It war a rickety ole crib anyhow,
but I tuk it for 'conoiny, as I didn't hev
any too much ready money on hand
jest at that time.
"I got a small stock of al\ sorts o'
things which I knew wud sell; an'
among others, a couple barrels o' whis-
ky, and brought them up from Janes-
ville on the river Rock.
"As I had rekoned, I got lots o' cus-
tom and I war gettin' on fairly, for I
could charge a good profit on the
things, without the folks known it, and
consequently I war drivin' a good trade
in my own way. ' •
"There wus a small addition on the
side of the house, an' at first I didn't
know what to do with it. It war too
small to hold much of anything, and if
it hed a-bin bigger, I didn't hev any
thing fur it to hold; but finally I gota
idee, an' fixed things for a smoke-hous^.
A smoke-house out thar war a queer
thing, an' it caused many a lorf |ffin ma;
but the settlers war tired out smokin'
their pork in a barrel, as it war mighty
bothersome fur to do it that way, and it
tuk fine—better nor I expected; and 1
now had my hands full of work, and my
whisky giving out, I got four barrels,
and some more things, and then begun
to stalk for the profits.
"I war doin' fine in everything as I
said, and pocketing some cash in
the meantime, and had a good
lot of furs which I tuk in .pay for
things, but there war one thing which
wus the cause of a lot o' trouble. A
lot o' cursed Injuns were camped about
two mile up the river, an' p'rhaps you've
heard how powerful fond of liquor an
Injun is. They got a taste o' the whis-
ky; and hunter's shirts, mocasons, furs,
and everything went for the sperit.—
They were fairly crazy a'ter it; and they
hung around the door all day, ready to
beg of every customer to treat them to
a glass of the liquor, and they got to be
a regular noosence. It wouldn't do no
good to threaten and talk, they would
stay, and hang around for a chance of
a drink. Some of them were mighty
cute about it too; an' I never felt so
small as I did once when one of them
sold me the same coon-skin twice, and
got his drinks. But he was too know-
ing ever to come around again, for I'd
a pilled him sure aspowder'll blow: for
I didn't think any more then of killin' art
Injun than I did a rat, 'cept when I
thought it would be v#ry dangerous
to myself.
"I knew something must bo did; an'
so I cast about for something to rid me
of the pesky red-skins.
"One morning, as I war sittin' kin-
der abstracted behind the table, an idee
struck me and I determined I'd fix
him—that is a sartain Injun who war
sittin' down on the grass in front of my
door, ready to beg of tho fust custom-
er, as what wer comin' along.
"Red," sed I to him—for his name
wer Red Eye,"^ be had been a fine
feller wunst, a well-bilt man, but licker
had brunghim down to rags, and had
'made nigh as big a fool of him as of any
on'em—'Red,says I, 'would yer like
some "fire-water" this- mornin'?'
"It would a don yer good to seen him
jump, be war willin, enuf, he war, to
take some. Sez I, 'if you will git upon
the pole in the smoke-house, an lei me
smoke you for half an hour, I'll giv you
a whole gallon.'
"The blamed old fool didn't look at
any thing but the whisky, he didn't; and
in five mini/a I had him under key, and
1 had an aBtonishin' smoke agoin-regler
cob smoke.
"Well I sot a thinkin, in the store
for Bome time, until I begin to think
the time war nearly up, and I thought
I would go out an, see how tho tarna!
'Red,' war gitin' on. I opened the
door, an there war a powerfull smoke
I tell yer: but the old imp sat upon
the pole laffin', and wanted to know if
the time war up.
"I war powerfnll mad, yon better be-
lieve, and I determin not to bo sold
that way: so I went an' got some lumps
o' sulphur which old Jenkins, down in
Janesville, gave me, a sayin it war good
for* ick animals when it wor desolved
in tnilk. I don't think I would a don
it if I "had had my senses about mo: but
I War mad and desperate, and flung
the stuff upon the fire. Jiflst then, I saw
old-man Simpson comin in, and I run
to sll him wLiu/ he wanted.
While I wus a givin' him his mug o'
liquor and bacca, 1 begin to hear some
of the alliiredest yells that ever I heered
from the way of the smoke-house. Ole
Simpson jumped up-scared as thunder,
and grabbed me by the arm, but I told
him 1 guessed it war only a brace o'them
wild Indians a fightin. These yells
didn't last long, but while it wer agoin'
they war awful, I tell ye and I never glial
forget them, if I live a hundred years.
Simpson set a shaking like a dog on a
cold day; and when they stopped he
went out, and got his horse and traveled
for home, kinder tall I tell yer.
"I wont out to the smoke-house. All
was quiet, an' I knew he wer don for
this earth. I opened the dore, but ther
come a gust of the hot air in my face
and I thought I should kick under.
1 run aboun five rods before I stop't,
an, then I stoped to breath. Thinks I,
if the bad place the preachers tell us
about is as bad as that, it's time for
me to repent. I felt kinder sorry for
wort I'd done; bi^it coudn't bo helped
now—thar was no use cryin' for burnt
powder; and just then I see a parcel
of Injuns comin, up the rivor. 1 knew
if what I had_d«ie war-found < oui, my
life wasn't a 'fiddler's ftp,' and I war mar-
tin sure it would be found out. So 1
rushed into the cabin, grabbed my hard
cash—what little I hed—and took the
old gray, and off I started for Janes-
ville. I didii'f wait for noboy, but went
right through, detarmin to cum out
the next day with a party, and rescu
ray goods. But I saw in Janesville,
that ere night a.rqd light in the sky to
the north, and I new what was up, the
smoke-house in the wilderness was for-
ever gonel"
Loss of Twenty-Hive Lives in
A Colliery.
Another frightful and melancholy
colliery accident took place on Wednes-
day week at tho Main Colliery, situated
near Brynock, and about two miles from
the town of Neath. The colliery is
the property of Messrs Pox, Redwood
& Co., under whose auspices it was
reopened about two years and a half
ago. On the morning of tho accident
the men and boys, to the number of
eighty, descended the pit as usual, and
some of them were sent tojaslore the
drifts, with a view to obtaif^|mddition-
al pit as an upcast shaft. At about
eleven o'clock while the borers were
engaged in driving in a southerly di
rection, they unfortunately struck into
the workings of an old colliery, called
the Fire Engine pit. Although the
proximity of these old workings was
well known, no apprehension of danger
from them was ever entertained, as it
was supposed they had been thoroughly
drained. The men lost no time in try-
ing to fly up the hole, but their efforts
proved useless, as the water flowed in
with such rapidity as to hurl them com-
pletely back by its volume of pressure.
An alarm was given, and a general rush
took place to tue shaft, but the torrent
of water soOn overwhelmed tho entire
pit; and though train after train was
sent down with the utmost «peed, the
number left in the pit is supposed to
be twenty .five persons, all of whom
must have perished; The number bro't
up was fifty-five, men and boyB anc
two horses; the latter instinctivly jum-
ped in as one of the tubs reached the
bottom, and one of the lads saved hity)
self by clinging to the horse's tail. Ev-
erything is being done to clear the pit
of water, and two powerful engines
have been set to work. As a proof of
the rapid manner in which the pit got
overflowed, it may be mentioned that
in two hours the water flooded the
shafts to the height of sixty-throe feet,
and soon afterwards to eighty feet. A
searching investigation into the circum-
stances is immediately to take
Tta acciden thas .caused a profound
melancholy in town.-
8 UNI)AY READ1N G.
Wbat LUtle Mantis can Do.
Children think they can do little good,
and even their parents often think the
same. They can be obedient and affec-
tionate—this all admit: but few think
they are old enough to do anything
for the salvation of the world. Now
children, this is a very great error.
Cannot a child do as much as a worm?
'Why, yes,' exclaims every little reader,
and more too.' Let us see. Imagine
that you and I are sailing in a vessel
upon tho South Sea. How beautiful
we glide along! TS6 vessel skims the
ocean like a swan. But what is that
yonder, rising above the billows like a
painted island? Now it sparkles in the
rays of sun like a rock of silver, and
now it assumes a different colof. Red,
golden, silvery hue, all blend together
delightful richness.' Nearer and
nearer wc come to the attractive ob-
ject, all the while appearing more bean-
tif'ull and brilliant than the crystal pal-
ace, when lo 1 we discover it is the splen-
did work of sea worms,, so small that
we cannot see them with the naked eye
yes the little coral worm threw'up
those many-colored reefs, a little at
a time, until we have this magnificent
sight. And juat over there, beyond
thatlineof reefs, you see that little island
covered with tall palm trees, so green
and slender. The foundation of that
island, now a fit habitation for men,
was laid by the same little coral worm.
Myriads of tliwn lived and died there,
and left their bodies to make the foun-
dation of thaf (.'oralisland: then the soil
accumulated, and the trees grew as
they are now seen. Yes, coral is made
of the skeleton of little sea-worms.
This is what some worms do towards
making this world a habitation for man-
kind. They make islands. God did not
create them to be useless in this world,
where so much is to be done. Their
.work amounts to something.
Would you not be as useful as the
little coral worm? You cannot build
island*', butVou cáií nélj^ the people
who live upon them, and thoso who
live on other parts of the earth. A
cent is a small gift, but ten of make a
dime. A grain of sand is-very minute,
but enough of them make a mountain.
So the little which one child does for
God may seem too small to bo counted,
but perhaps twenty of those littles are
equal to the work of ono full-grown
man or women. Do not forgot that,
if you do nothing for God, you are not
worth as much as the coral worm.—
Exchange.
Heaven's Trustee.—Beauty, we say,
is given by God; it is a talent; but
money, we are apt to say, is proper
wages for our day's work; it is not a
talent, it is a due. We may justly
spend it on ourselves if we have worked
for it. And their would be some sha-
ow of excuse for this, wore it not that
tho very power of making the money
is itself only one of the application? of
that intellect or strength which we con-
fess to be talents. Why is one man
richer than another? Because ho is
more industrious, moro persevering and
more sagacious. Well, who made him
more nftrsevering or more sagacious
than (fflliers? That'power of endurance,
that quickness of apprehension, that
Calmness of judgment, which enables
him to sicze the opportunities that
others lose, and persist in the lino of
talent—are they notj jij the present
state of the world, among the most
distinguished and influential of mental
gifts?—Joh\i Éuskin.
SHEEP BAKING IN TEXAS.
rrr-r-:—
5
good, in short na
for your country, as a t
Now, iu order to bo a
grower you Hp
and this you <
thy i
your bucks av
til the first of ]
tho bucks, two or i
your lambe will <
Some suggestions thrown out in the
following article may be of service
our sheep raisers in this portion
Texas. We recommend the careful
perusal of the entire article; and re-
turn our thanks to Mr. Burtle, for
permission to publish it.—DaUas Her.
Pittsburg, April 22, 1859.
Andrew Burtle, Esq; Dallas, Texas:
Dear Sir :—i undertake to redeem my weeks alter and
protüiso to you, when we parted at
Louisville. I promised to give you
some information about Sheep and
Wool growing) I havo made se varal
promises of a similar sorts. As I in-
formed you I have been long engaged
in tho Sheep and Wool business: it is
the leading branch of stock raising hi
Western Pennsylvania, and is brought
to a great state of perfection: Our
growers have but small farms, conse-
quently but small flocks,—150 to 600
acres is the size of a Pennsylvania
cheep farm—and as you know, we have
six months out of the twelve to feed,
and are limited aH to the number we
can keep. Our flocks number from
150 to 1000 head, occasionally 2000,
usually 300 to ttOO head, all of the
Merino families or orosses of the Merin-
oes. Tho best ahd most profitable
sheep wo have are what may justly be
termed American Merino, they being the
cross on ail Merino families ; and by
great care, selecting best owes and
bucks, and continuing to do so, wc have
arrived at a sheep that has size, healte
and quality, and' in short, combine
more of tho good than aney other class
of sheep.
I will send shortly, sixty of this elites
of sheep out to our Ran olio at Gabriel
Mills, Williamson county, in pour
State; as I told you, we havo a flock
there, sent out nearly five years since.
They are in charge of Mr John Elliot;
of August or tho
them; tako tin
and herd se
wooks; and tl
milk, and the hu
is very important for the
lamb and ewe. The roason
fer April for the lambs to come is,
Spring grass is then v
the ewe is better pre|
flow of milk to well
and the weather is sufficiently warm
to insure every lamb living; and as
May is the clipping time, the owe is not
reducod in strength or her fieoce im)
ed as it would be if Bho bore a1
Feb., instead of April.
must guard well, not to bi
this you understand.
the cause above all otln
ting all the stock of your
kinds. I give it as my decii
if you havo your lambs oome April, you
will require no shelters, houses, or sheds
at all, your cold is a dry cold, and at a
time when the sheep havo a^aod
ing of wool upon their backs; wo
in Pennsylvania, where the freeze
much more severe, do not house 20 per
cent, of our sheep. My word for it, if
you start with healthy sheep and give
them the attention I have directed, you
will succeed beyond a doubt. I speak
by the Book. Our little flock of Meri-
nos in Williamson county, Texas, com-
menced fivo^years since frith about 150
Biü
the lot of 00 more sending out are and now number young and old about
bucks and ewes, from some dozen or 1000 iiedkl, in perfect health. When
so of good flocks, in our vicinity. We 1 left the middle of Fobruary, to
require them to keep up our stock; I, North, our flock
Wotilil consider the same class of sheep as they* could look ; this
Narhoweb—Spill Narrower!1—The
narrow limit of the longest life is every
day becoming narrower still. The
story is told of an Italian State prisoner
who after some week's confinement,
became suddenly aware that his apart-
ment was becoming smaiiei. He watch
edf and saw, with horror, that
able iron wall wai, gradually
ing on the space, and that as tho move-
ment come on, it must soon crush him
to death, and he could calculate it to a
day! but you have not that advantage.
John Foster yet morq ap¡
resembles our time to a
voir from which ¡sues doily a certain
small quantity of water, and when tho
rosorvoir is exhausted we must
of thirst; but we have no
sounding it to ascertain '
originally contained, nor
be enough remaining oven for
row!—Nt
ft} 'It*
we have here tho best adapted for your
country; but as they cannot be got in
any Quantity, the next beet thing for
you is, to get tho Missouri, Arkansas
or wbat is called the native sheep of
Texas, and cross with fufe Merino bucks,
you will in this way, by the second or
third cross, get up a very good ani-
mal, and a very fino quality of wool. I
have a sample of Wool of the first and
second cross with our fine bucks with
the class of ewes I speak of, gro
Texas, and it is a very great i:
ment on the native stqgjcs. If you can
do no better, (but it is the last shift)
buy the Mexican ewe and cross with
the Merino bucks. I object to Mexican
stock for the following reasons, or I
may say reason: they bred in and in
for a long time, and are literally run
down to almost nothing. I speak in
general terms; there may be some
growers in Mexico, or elsewhere, of
Mexican sheep, that havo givon more
attention and care to their flocks, but
I speak from my own observation, (as
you know I have been twice to your
SUte, looking after the sheep interest, )
almost without an exception
can sheep I saw were poor things,
¡mili, coarte, feeble sheep.
I visited'the ranche of a gentleman
in Burnet county, his ewes were then
laboring daily, (in January.) He re-
marked to me that his lambs li
well enough for a
uaHy draw ifl
dio: he could not toll the reason-
discovered the owe failed tó give Buffi-1
ciont milk to spport the lamb, and in
many cases go dry entirely, before the
lamáis old enough to ea,t grass. Yon
know the Spanish cow of your State
does not milk bo well as what you call
the American stock; I noticed it
fact, too many of what
Pfyápyiw) feijw
could look; this I
living evidence of the adaptation of
country to shoop. But I need not
of this, it is already a
Texas is the country to gro
You will pardon my egotism, but I
think my opinion is very valuable, aB
I have had a long experience in
and Wool growing, both in Pi
nia and in Texas. 0
Elliot, Gabriel Mills, Wi
try, Texas, has cbargo
and has muoh
the business.
You can
great purity and
try. Some think there
doing the growing of wool,
tod States ; the worl
a want for wool as it w
fore
Australian
an o'
WM
ptfJwi Wiwfrwti
11. > i
ft 11UH. ÍM {[ {i .vli) '
¡S#®
tMnlkjibv
wool for i
to come, if over.
your -
Your 1
Knufr-chet
A
"Christian Advo
"Mar" "
m
V. .. •.. '
lÉjipii ffiü'yjj
\-riM
¡B"íhk¡
at al
I L
but
LUffi
SP1I*£39
■' .•-'■it
Thnre is!
'•
■■-> ■
V:
..
PR
Mtl
mmmmzw*
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.
Marschalk, Andrew, Sr. The Hempstead Courier (Hempstead, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 1, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 1, 1859, newspaper, June 1, 1859; Hempstead, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth178818/m1/1/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.