The Weekly State Gazette. (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 17, No. 42, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 7, 1866 Page: 1 of 4
four pages : ill. ; page 22 x 17 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
a well
II
Xa oq«
Aud froit Ilea on
Did t )u h ftbd
WUbtxantjr, which It
Tha volee ot Jhl U >,
Rath through IU rlflod eli
The (boetly memoriae, that 1
Hop* dying ember out a fading |
Vti ootnfort do they brisa
font fall there
ght In Lewis
riiversal sense i
settled,
PP'
And whteper one dread word—that Word !• Death!
•(** the New York Evening I'atf.
Lawleiini-M ln this State.
axiB4o==:r:.M stokm or dwu** oaiaa.
The twenty-first Report of the New
York Prison Association, which has just
¡ published, oontains some extraor-
accounts of lawlessness and crime
in thfa State. After showing that through
the neglect of the ~
been pi
dinar*
in this
IM
i®
ie neglect of the officers of the law,
crimínala find it easy tp get off, and that
•in particular forfeited baifls In the greater
number of cases never collected, 6o that
««only twenty-fire per cent, of those
utrhv) we.% indicted were tried; eighteen
«per cent, were convicted on trial; twen-
ty-five per cent, confessed their guilt';
forty-one per cent, forfeited their recog-
nizances, amounting in the aggregate to
098,800—not one penny of which was
recovered"-—the report proceeds to give
some startling facts:
A survey of the State this year shows
that there is a strong and inci easing ten-
dency of crime to chrystalize, if we may
so say, into aggregates and masses. Men,
inore rarely now than fot merly, commit
robberies and burglaries alone. They
oppemte extensively in groups. Some
gangs are confined to single towns; oth-
ers extend their operations over a whole
countryj others, still, embrace several
counties 5 while the tondegpy is for indi-
vidual gamp to affilate with and .1
cally assist and receive assistance from all
the others in the State. This tendency
to aggregation is apparent in our larger
cities as wall as in the piral districts.
Through the agency of these affllated
societies of thieves, property once stolen
is passed rapidly from band to hand, until
it beeon.es almost impossible to trace it,
or, if it is discovered, the original (Jepre-
IBE3%r dators caniu.it be ascertained, and there-
fore go unwhipped of justice. If tbiB
tendency to aggregation and organiza-
tion continues to increase for the future
as it has done for a few years past, we
jshall soon have organized bands of 8
dated depredators in all the counties
the State, whose members will be known
to each other by secret grips, passwords
and other signs, who will mutually assist
each other in disposing of their plunder,
in baffling arrest, in escaping fro Jail,
or in procuring bail which will effect
their release from custody. m I
We had, from more than one quarter,
proof offered to us which, though it
might not, perhaps, lr<e deemed, sufficient
in a court of justice, was quite enough
to convinceour minds of the entire truth
of this statement. The great importance
of this subject makes it proper that we
p should illustrate it somewhat moro inde-
wm .;-§|:
AN EXTRAORDINARY STORY Ú* CRIME.
There is a family residing in Oneida
iS
PI
who, according to common fame,
|i§fi
the profession of thieving
for nearly twenty years. They have
grown rich by their unlawful practices.
Their children are educated in the best
and most expensive semlhlpea. They
drees genteelly, tl eir manners are some
what polished, and they appear t .fer^ly
well in Wwiety. Tbeir operations ate
carried on through the counties of Onei-
da, Oswego, Madison, Chenango, Scho-
harie, Deleware and Sullivan. ' They
have numerous well trained confederates
in «U those counties, who are ready by
day or by night, at a moment's warning,
•to ride off in any direction for the sake
# plunder # for the concealment or
protection of associates who are in dan-
ger of falling into the meshes of the law.
These men have been indicted times
•without number in the above-mentioned
counties, bat none of them nave ever
convicted, nor have any of them
been in jail for a longer timé than
_ sufficient for a bondsman to arrive
at the prison. I.t is generally believed
that there are formers apparently res-
pectable, who belong to Jibe gang and
«hare in its profits. Whether this be
bo or not, it is certain that whenever
bail is needed, any required number of
substantial farmers will come forward
and sign tbeir bonds, without regard to
the amount of the penalty. These men,
M might be supposed, exert a great po-
litical influence, and It 1 well understood
that they are always ready W reward
their friends and punish ttyMr enemies,
h In primary convention , and at the
of their indictmea
ratio to the 0«m'
is i
6MH
m
i any
so often
Am
. *t Pulaski, the
, . Oswego county, a man
who had been confined there
months, on a charge of crand
tift ma wax évtdfnlly fl
ch, and a class-leader in It.
hadiieen before
a 1
he •
bed
at
■jHHHHML.. inte aibdng his neigh"
bors, and no one of them gave any cred-
ence to the story of his guilt. The wife
was a more energetic person, and al-
though there la no proof that she was
ever actually connected with the gang,
yet it is believed, that she was quite will-
ing, to conceal their secrets, so far as they
might have been entrusted to her. Some
time before her arrest ano of the gang
ran off with her daughter, and neither
he nor his associates would let her know
where her child was concealed. This
greatly enraged her, and she began to let
out the secret of the organization, and to
threaten vengence against them. 4
She was repeatedly warned to desist
and menaced with punishment if she con-
tinued to operate against them; but she
paid no attention to their threats, and
continued her hostile action. One evén-
ing just at dusk, a Jew peddler came in
¡with his pack and requested her to let
him stay all night;. She assented,' pro-
posit,g to him to leave his pack in the
front room, while they went into a rear
apartment to get supper. They sat in
the room until bed time, and the «ped-
dler, in his affidavit, distinctly deolares
that she was never once out of his $M&t.
When he was reitdy to retire she lighted
candle for him, but before going to b
b went into the front room to look
his pack, When, to his consternation, he
found that it was gone. The next morn-
ing he entered a complaint before 4 jus-
tic ., who was himself generally believed
to bo connected with the gang, against
the couple at whose house he had lodged
and, although the complaint sWore thai
the woman was never out *o'f his sight
from the time lie left the pack in the
front room until he discovered that it
was lost, and the husband pro' "
time that
the peddler was iñ bis house, yet the
justice committed them for trial. .1. A
A^respectable farmer, now came for-
ward and offered to be their bail, and
Was accepted by their magistrate. He
told the woman, at the same time, that if she
mvJ.d say no more about the gang, and their
affairs, she would hear, no more about the
larceny charge. But she was smarting so
severely about the loss of her daughter
that she coult not restrain her propensi-
ty to talk, and frequently gave informa-
tion which was adverse to the interests
of the parties who she believed were
keepidg her daughter in concealment
When the bondsmen found th t sL-
would not keep quiet, he surrender!
both her and her husband, and they were
then committed to jail, where they b¿íí
remained up to the time of our visit,
.cases had been put over from
the Tombs and on
From the moment
ie dewredgijors. .the
cure once moré. '"¡f
A treasury note of the government
was counterfeited with consúmate skill,
and it became a matter of vital ; impar-
tañe? to obtain the plate from which the
counterfeit was printed. One of the
most successful detectives was employed
to work up the case, who soon found
that the cost of securing it would be so
great that there would be little probabil-
ity that the Treasury would audit bis ac-
counts. He therefore told the govern-
ment that the cost would be so great
that he declined to undertake it 5 but
the possession of the plate and the infor-
mation that its capture would give were
so exceedingly important that the detec-
tive was authorized to go on with it.
Ho ¿lid so i the plate was obtained; all
the inforraatio sought for was procured,
and the counterfeiters and their abettors
were captured. But it cost the govern-
ment one hundred and twenty thousand
dollars to accomplish this result. There
were rbgular vouchers for every payment,
ánd eaeh were carefully scrutinized and
verified. ■ Theie was no doúbt whatever
tbat all the expenditures had been made
in good faith and with the utmost econo-
my. Doubtless the government felt that
the possession of that plate and the
knowledge gained were wo$th all they
had cost.
While we were inspecting the jail at
Orleans county, a gentleman, left a horse
and a buggy worth eight hondred dollars
tied to a post in the village of Albion.
When he came out of the bank they
were gone, and no one could tell him
where they were. He sent off messen-
gers in several directions, but their search
was made without any theory to guide
them, and was, of course, unsuccessful.
After the relapse of a week a farmer in
the country called upon the loser and ad-
' vised him to offer a large reward for the
recovery of the property. He acceded
to the proposal, and as soon as the hand-
bills «ould be printed, they were dis-
persed So all directions, offering the re-
w ard.. The next day the farmer who
given him the advice brought the horse
and buggy and claimed the reward, He
said that a stranger had left it with him
to keep, promising to call for it in a few
days. The feelings of the loser, when
the demand was made and his story was'
told, were such that, though imagination
may conceive language cannot give them
utterance. '
During the fall of the present year
several very daring burglaries and rob-
beries were committed in Pottgbkeepsie
and other5 parts-of Dutchess "county.
The policemen of Poughkeepste bestirred
themselves vigorously to find the guilty
parties, and I:'
pense"
of the absence of material witnesses for
the persecution. It was generally be
lieved lb the neighborhood that they
would be kept there, on one pretence or
another just as long as, it suited the in-
terests of their persecutor .,
|||g KIDNAPPING and arson
Lsst summer one of the constables, of
Madison comity had been very active' "in
tracing out their opperations, and they
determined to give him a lesson. Tbey
ocurcd a warraift.from a justice, sup-
wed to bo devoted to their interests,
who deputed two of the gang to conv ¡y
him to jail, as special constables. 11 was
not convenient for them (such at least
was the pretence), to conyey him to pris-
on immediately j so they were taking
him to their own heme, to be kept there
until it should suit th-ir purpose to carry
him to the jail. Their route lay through
the village of Hamilton, where the con-
'was well known, and when the
is saw him In the custody of two
members of the rogues' gang, instead of
they being in his, it «Wakened a very
lively curiosity in their minds. On be-
ing interrogated, they produced the wfcr-
L which appeared regular on Its face,
and the citizens did not attempt to resist
it. j bnt they insisted that, tho prisoner
should be taken directly to tho jail, or
otherwise they would forcibly release
him. Finding that they were in earnest,
tho social constables finally yielded the
point., and carried blm to the jail.
I Five citizens of Hamilton made them-
lally conspicuous in the mat-
a m^nth had elapsed, the
f them were burned, and
ost, valuable horses, which
in the ni'ght. This last out-
the people of the viciuity
They knew, from long ex-
perience, that they could obtain* no re-
redresi through the tardy processes of
against the men who had for so
succossfdlly resisted its ac-
reaolved ta take the law.
Own hands, and
to the offenders.
two o
were s
¡H
the; 1<5
i excitement
il-No-thjS.
savy acceptances, or of doubtfu
mentary contests, or of uugratefl
ter of state, checks their singing
ter, pr their cheerful and chiMl
ais a ponyi
bese dwsrfs como
Durse of at
ud taller
pad North
nf, Is the best
called a pony in the pasture
ay fourteen to fifteen hands—
st huuter. Throughout North De-
and Somersetshhe, and wherever
1 are famed, the Ex moor b
5 ¿Jt reputation; not Without
j ««y are not only hardy and
'i-from their earliest years they
their dams at a gallop down the
of loose stones on the steep
mrtand sides; but they are extraordi-
ily ucti.e and courageous. Tho wri-
ter onco saw an Exinoor, only forty-fonr
u higb, jump out of ft pond five feet
¿he« uigh, just touching the top bar
wuerever
breed have
jut reason,
Ir and sure-
by
>and take —
ill have to
on strength
ere are boys and men who learn to
ride, and ride well, by Instinct, imitation
and practice, especially if they have good
modelB before their eyes, and aro not
sped early by flattering toadies; but
there are many men who never ride with
any sense at «II, although they ride, all
not the writer's opinion. A boy should,
«s a matter of course, I|
a fuss about fall, or any other hurt ór
accident j and he who is not afraid wiíl
fall most cleverly ; but the first point Of
good
is, not to fall until
your horse falls; the next is to guide and
hold him that he shall fall as seldom as
possible.
and liicürred considerable ex-
R in making thebecessarj investiga-
conrt to court on account, it, was alleged, tions. When the board of Supervisors
met. they presented their bills, which
were rejected, gffifce board refused to
pay them a solitary cent for their servi-
ces, or even to reimburse them for tbeir
actual expenses. On the night preceding
our inspection of the jail, the houses of
Judges Einott and Banard were broken
open in a very daring manner, and com-
pletely stripped ofull the gold and- sil-
>er ware and jewelry that were contained
in them.i We asked the police what pro-
gress had been made in ferreting, out the
offenders. They said they bad made ne
efforts to learn who the offenders, were,
nor for the recovery of the property.
A very dangerous counterfeit appea
some time since
appeared
one of the Troy
ce upon
banks' The sheriff received certain iñ
formation where the plate could be pro-
cured. He oftáNod to procure it if the
Board of Supervisor w«aíd promise to
reimburse his actual expenses in doing
so, but they refused.
, A most daring burglary had been com-
mitted in Troy. Tho same Sheriff as-
certained that one of the men engaged
in it was hidden in Buflalo. He went
there to arrest him, but, unfortunately,
one of the gatig happened to see him in
the cars at "Rochester, and telegraphed
from thence to his confederate in Buffah).
When the Sheriff arrived the bird had
flown; ho trace of him could be discov-
ered, and the sheriff was compelled to
return empty-bunded. The Board of
Supervisor*.r**\w<id.to allow the bill of
his actual disbursément, althorffch the
journey had been undertaken in perfect
good faith, on reliable information, and
tie capture of the thief would have been
made, had it not been for a contingency
that no human sagacity could forsee, and
for which the Sheriff was not responsi-
ble. '• ¿ '*'y ';;:V'-ÍÍp •
¡¡ST There & * Vtory of a famous
French preacher, who delivering ft sermon
on the duty of wives, said, "I soe a wo-
man present who'has been guilty of dis-
obedience to her. husband, and in order
to point her out to universal condemna-
tion. I will fling this breviary at her
head." He lifted the book, and every
female present duked and dived. "A1«*P
said the preacher, "the multitude of of-
fenders necessitates a general amnesty."
IUQ Jiwuwb i uujr, ucaiuDo uun
steppers in Broughams, and
umphs of carriage-building' ai
ied from the London style.
and SoW gravely'Sl^yihjitai
seniors, in handling ponies a little bigger
than South-down rams 1
In those admirably planned and pic-
turesquely arranged rides in the wood,
pfft^teiiy the Emperor of the French
for the iiihftbieonta of his capital, the
splendor of the equipages ón & great tete
day—a Gladiateur day— leaves nothing
to be desired. Our Ladies' Mile Is left
in the shade by the splendor of « series
or four-horse postillloned barouches, with
liveries of every brilliant shade of velvet
and satin, from the brightest canary to
the richest ruby, besides hosts of grand
in Broughams, and other tri-
" "" ' art well cup!:
style. Horsemen
are there, top, in very fair numbers, to
whom a critical eye would most probably
object that the horses are too good for
their work, and that the men ride tod
Well, too correctly, too seriously, for
pleasure: that they are perfectly taught,
but aro not to the manner born. Y«8}
the wealth of modern Paris rivals Lon-
don In everything that is gorgeous for
grown up people. But when it Comes to
the little people and ponies, Paris is a
blank.
Pooy-boy-shlp, not horse-man-ship, is
the crowning glory of thesa equestrian
islands. Tho word pony is feebly repre-
sented in other languages by two words,
implying little hor«e or dwarf horse, and
the French have been obliged to borrow
the term . without being able to borrow
the thing. In tho brilliant horse show
at Paris the other day, there was only
ono pony. In the horse show at the
Agricultural Hall, the ponies were as nu
merous and as much admired as the
thorough-breds. There are small horses
in many cduntries, bnt it is only in this
among civilized nations that tho let-alone
system of education allows the family
pony to develop into an institution.
Oood horses and horsemen are not con-
fined to England. The Ohasseurs d'Af-
riquo. on their little, wiry, hardy Arabs,
tho Hungarian Hussars, the Polish 1/m-
cers, the Oossacks of the Russian Guird,
may claim to rank with any light caval-
ry ; Russian and Austrian coachmen
tlrive fast and well, three or four ablest,
in their own peculiar style; so, too, here
: re foreign artists who know wolBhow
to draw the-single Arab, the war torne
of Job, or « whole charge of cavalry .but
jt is only in England (meaning the three
English-speaking kingdoms) that John
Iieech. could have found his imqortal
boys on pon y back; above all, that genu-
ine master George on :his Shetland^,: his
soul on fire, speaking in his eye|, and
eager for the hunt streaming awky on
the other side the "brook, answering the
piteous "hold hard !" of the much endu-
ring Ruggles. "It's too wide unli very
deep," jrith the 1
aelf-confi* anee,
"All right, we can both swim " Master
George did not mean to be saitcy to the
old'coachman, or to be Witty, like those
royal and imperial boys who makdsuch
wonderful bon-müU. He only meant, in
the language of the Ring—"busitie s,"
that there was a brook to be done, and
dry or wet, Master George me«nt to do
it. ';|
The family pony, ridden at all h
with and without saddle, along btóle
roads, over the moors, in the hay-jeld,
and through'the wood, up hill and down
dale, teaches the boy to go alonej to de-
fend himself, to tumble cleverly artí to
get up again without making a noiseiat a
bump or two. As far as teaching the
art of horsemanship goes, perhaps! the
ccan pie (est pliui with boys, as well as
girls, is to allow no riding until they are
eight or nine years old, and then to com-
mence with first principles. Still, hab-
its of independence are of more .impor-
tance than perfect horsemanship, there*
living in the oguntry, with a
ráfj] if wli
of food and climate. The léli Mr.
the fether of the present owner
of Exmoor, expended a fortune in trying
tA raise a breed of horses and large po-
ntos of these wastes. Torough breds,
Arabs, and even the rare Dongola horse,
imported 4t a cost of thousands, were
used; butj after all, in order to breed a
race capable ofliving through Exmoor
winters, it hiw been found nocessary to
fall back/on pure pony breeds, and be
satisfied yith an average height of ft lit-
tle over/forty-eight inches. Among
these, wiile all are excellent for harness,
occasion/lly specimens occur which re-
the blood and the symmetry of
oestor®. ig.
hetlanders are undoubtedly of a
an stock, but, according to a
tradition, owe their thorough-
k and parti-colors, to crosses
ires saved from the wreck of the
1 Armada. At any rate, from se-
or some other cause, Shetlanders
be found, much more thorough-
thaa the dun cobs of Norway.
0 of the finest specimens of the
od ponies ever seen in this country;
re fiom Sardina, presented by the
esent King of Italy to our Queen,
ey were Arabs In mina tuve, from ten
twelve hand! high, of a better shape
forefathers
stable as well as a lib
¡se, will
not negloct the pony branch of educa-
tion, but will let the boy, as soon as he
likes, go wandering about the park, the
farm, the village; 3«>ari>i% how to take
cate of hims(M*rtd his steed. With
girls it is different. A girl can ooVmore
learn to ride gracefully than to dance
gracefully without being carefully taught
from tbe„first lessan to the lost.
Real ponies, not dwarf horses, bred
without care on waste moors and moun-
tains, are more sound than horses of ped-
igree; perhaps because, like Indians,
only those of stout constitution# ««urvive
the hardships of infancy or foalhood, and
also because only the best aro sent for
salé out óf their native district.
,; The common defect of ponies is
straight, thick shoulders aad. want of
proper place for the saddle. This is gen-;
era! among the pure mountain breed 5
probably hereditaay grazing and expo-
sure to the weather, are not favorable to
protection of shape. Welsh pofties have
well-deserved
tation, but It
they are of ny par-
ís civilization spread
shape of rich squires
ires, tl
HJpfteely a'
and racin
alwaya
been cowed and
produc
noble 1
Thei
Norwe
doubtf
bred,
withy
Span
lectji
aro/
tan Arabs usually «re, with that quality
d courage which are the cardinal mer-
of the African blood horse.
In choosing « pofly on which your
boys are to leam to ride, take ono. as
much like a good hack in shape, and as
little like a donkey as possible. In a
arge wood cut by John Leech, of the
"irst Meet of the season, there is a seri-
us drawing, not a caricature, of a per-
fect blood pony torching his neck proudly
and champing his bit. A donkey isa
Very useful animal, but he is the worst
possible tutor for future horsemen, be-
cause he has no mouth or rather a mouth
of leather, which never objects to being
pulled.
A boy's pony should W nunut,..
that his little legs can have aomo real
grasp. The fat round barrels of the cob-
model are very Well for carrying baskets
or' side-saddle pads, but a boy, when
eight or nine years old, &nd that is early
enough to begin to ride, should b$ able
to sit in as good form, as when, in later
years he bestrides a hunter. Some teach
without stirrups; but in this civilized
country every one rides with stirrups,
the advantage is doubtful, the danger of
serious injury is considerable, and the
effect is to give an awkward seat; but if
boys do ride without stirrups, it should
be either bare-backed or with a cloth
and surcingle. A saddle without stir-
rups is very dangerous. -
Nothing is more absurd than the usual
course of instruction in riding. In every
other art, the tutors begin with the ele-
ments, and with those, one at ft time ;
but the riding-school teacher generally
begins by encumbering a pupil who does
not know how to sit, with double reins
and a whip.
Teach t|jp boy to sit first. Fasten the
pony's head into the right place With a
pair of reins buckled to the flaps*of the
saddle, and a standing martingale if nec-
essary. Then put the boy into the sad-
dle carefully', fit the stirrups to his legs,
tell him to keep his shoulders back, his
back slack, his heels down, and cross his
arms across his chest. Then, repeating
the cabalistic words—''«heels down, back
slack," over," «nd over again, load the
pony «bout at a walk for a day or two,
until the boy gets his balance, or what
the French happily call son dssiette.
Then give him « single pajr of reins, and,
explain tbat in riding the hands are al-
ways to.be kept lower than the elbows,
and generally as low as the hips,
press on him—-"If ydu raise youra
you ure lost," and that the bridle is npt
a safety'handle to hold on with, but a
pair of lines for steering—"If yon want
to turn to the right pull the
if you want to turn to the left, pi
left rein.'' These whre the waXimsntf
George 1)., the once celebrated steeple
ponies too restive^ or spirite
imi
As a final word,
fathers t.o whose
Bill
boy can never be ft —.
has learned to gallop up
with slight hand, all rul. s fc
keeping his seat by instinct.
nvcdotea oí Oeu. A.
Hp1 ??§ M ;HHIR9H|HHHHRR
Rev. Mr. Fontai^now of Mississippi,
formerly of Texas, relates the following
anecdotes of this distinguished man:
I have said that he had at all times
perfect self control. ? I will mention
IS;
eome instances In which I«
' v'tW
M
i . i
for his
mmature seat. But there is a mistake
in the other direction. Teaching is
wasted unless principles are followed by
ce, and unless what is learned in
the home park or school is practiced on
rough ground and across country, ujs and
down steep hills, «cro's moors, and
through woodland. For this purpose
there is nothing better than an occasion-
al day with the barriers j boys and hor-
ses both learn to be quick to turn, to
stop and to start again, Nó horseman
or horsewoman is safe who has not learn-
ed to leap real fences, ditches, banks and
hurdles; for the quietest horse will buck
sometimes, and the slowest ride end in
an inevitable short cut. , > , '
Somo people, stout, of constitution and
thick of skin, dwell fondly on the happi-
ness of their school days, but that is a
kind of enjoyment like a taste for bath-
ing in the depth of Winter, or for whole
bottlos of port at one sitting. It is more
than every constitution can bear. For
the writer's own part, while his school
days have ever been the subject of his
most frightful dreams, in which, some-
times a school-master, and sometimes «
tyrant senior^ has been his nightmare,
ho turns to his pony-riding days with
fond delight, not extinguished or dimi'n-.
ished by the memory of many an exci-
ting gallop, in the best counties, with
flying bounds, on horses good enough for
any ode of his weight, at an age when
vanity and excitement were stronger
than prudence. * , ¡"1 ¿J#
No ofack care sits behind the boy "Who
can ride, who loves to read, and has just
entered on the world of poetry and ró-
manoe. When well mounted, he takes
his way alone, or with a party of yonng
companions, galloping fast over the turf,
walking slowly through broad woodland
or over wild moore, excited, charmed,
amused, full of wild,; absurd th nights
realizing a thousar.d romantic fancies,
charging at Flodden or flying with Lor
tions go back to bare-legged.days, when*
for our health's sake, two or three times
a week a tall dragoon (he seemed ft very
ÉiitiMiillMM
mained cress-eared pony twice a
1 called to take us a ride on a black
&
chase rider. He spent honrs in instilling
them into his children, and with marvel-
ous success. At ten years old, his boy
and girl rode thorough-bsed horses,
hunting in as perfect form as the most
eel ebiated horsemen. He had ah iron
graypony, forty inches high, a minature
weight carrying hunter, with a blood
head, which, galloping at speed, would
clear a hurdle nine inches higher than
his own shoulders,, and which actually
cleared a hedge and ditch fifteen feet
To see little D. ride this hot little brute
at the hurdlsL touch the pony's croup
with his own shoulders as he leaped, and
rise to his right seat as he tanded, a
dozen times in succession, was a sight
which old steeple-chose jockeys and col-
onels of craCk cavalry regiments, wonder-
ed at and enjoyed.
ir $ba great point in teaching riding to—
that the H
mm
began his lessons in the
sons became so *
■
ti
giant)
bog-m
week. He used to walk beside us, hold-
ing us for safety by the leg. It was an
ugly flat country, and our way was al-
most always by the side Of « canal for
an hour or so, up to a lock, where there
used tp be a long talk between the mili-
tary tutor and the lock-keeper's daugh-
ter. To us he seldom ever addressed a
word. We- often longed to go some
other way; the canal caused us unde-
fined terrors, but we never ventured to
complain either to the dragoon or nurse.
We don't think we enjoyed th^e rides,
fpr tho pony was spiteful rnd did not on-
courage any delicate attentions; «nd our
chief pleasure arose from the loud admi-
ration we excited among ragged boys of
our own age. When are we too young
or too old to be beyond vanity 1
In course of time wo were promoted
to ride alone on an Ugly safe and stupid
pony by the side of pur parents In a gig,
without, however, turning off the main
roads. But the true glories of horseman-
ship were opened tons when, by great
good fortune, at about twelve years old
we caught tho measles at school, and
wereeent to a farm house to recruit.
Close to tbo farm was one of the finest
deer parks in England, and ft hall, then
for more than twenty years deserted by
a great, personage, the owner, for some
mysterious reason, an exile on the Con-
tinent.., Nothing was kept up except
the deer, the game, and as much of the
kitchen gardens as It suited the head
gardener to cultivate. The pleasure
grounds were a wilderness; but to my
eyes, coming from a damp flat mining
country, they were a perfect g&rden or
Edefc. There glorious flowering shrubs
flourished among weeds and long grass;
and hares, rabbits and feathered game
sprang from the most unexpected places.
The king of th« place was the head
game-keeper—a tall thin one-eyed white-
headed old man, who bad been a sotdler,
and who, whether he walked or rode, was
always accompanied by an orange-colored
ftpe from South America.' Me had a
grown "up son, whom he treated like a
child, and it was this soft's duty to kill
the deer sent «way for venison.
Our only companion wait; the, person's
son, ft boy of our own age. He had ft
famous pony, «nd our farmer soon found
one for us. It was there we learned to
ride, in *£#«y th«t all the schools of
country
,«nd
horses
«a well
aud moun
timmm
his temper
I was once fishing with him m
Colorado river. A large bass seized bis
hook, and it required all hls skill to reel
,him to the surface of the water with a
sma]l silk line. After a contest cf sever-
al minutes with the powerful fish, he
succeeded in bringing' his fine proportions
in full view; but just as he was about
landing him, with «sharpstrain upon his
rod, he gave an'"indignant flounce," and
disappeared in the clear depths of the
stream, leaving the snapt line tangled
fast to # willow limb, high above tht
head of the disappointed general. He
gave it « gentle pull; but finding it hung
fast, he walked up the bank and cut «
polo with a hook to it, and pulled down
the limb very cautiously} and then set
to work very deliberately to untangle
the Gordian knot Into which he, the bass,
and the limb together, bad tied tbo line.
After the patient labor of at least half
an hour, he succeeded in righting his,
tackle, put on another hook and minnow,
end "threw out" to tempt another bite.
In the mean time, I watched his motions,
very much «mused at tbe mishap, bat,
said nothing. He made no exclamation
of impatience, ana exhibited no emotion.
I then remarked: "General, although
you are not a ipember óf the church, I
believe you are a better Chris,t!an than
myself in one respect—you are mo*e pa-
tient. If old Izaak Walton himself had
lost th«t fish after such a tussel, and lost
his hook with him," aud tied upbis tackle
in that way, he might not have curscd
the fish or his luck, but I think be would
have said something spiteful, and have
felt a little blasphemous." He replied s ;;
"I have long Bince learned, sir, by expe-
rience, that It's best never to get excited
«bout anything; for, in a lit of excite- la-
ment, very sensible men are apt to do or
say something fash'or foolish, for which
they may hftve to repent in a cooler mo-
ment."
He had a very valuahje Newfoundland
ch was. a very great favorfte
noyt McCliing and Bettie, his three
youngest children, in their rambles about
ills premises, and I thipk he sometimes
pulled the little girl in a toy carriage.
But the dog ono day went into .the. lot of
a mean neghbor, to piay withf "cur of
low degree," a proper dog for a master as
mean and worthless as himself. This
man, who had been kindly treated by
the General and his family, but who en-
vied and hated him, with that sort of
malice which the base and vulgar gener-
ally cherish towards the nobie and re-
fined, to distress the children, or show
his apt&s against the distinguished neigh- |
bors,\ or from the promptings of some
dicty motive which is only understood
by the devils that got into the swine oí*
Genesseret, or by those who are instiga-
ted by them, threw a piece of meat; poi-
soned with strychnine, to the dog, which
came home and in a few minutes died
with convulsions, in the presence of the
children and their parents. * The little
children wept bitterly the loss of their
favorite, and Mrs. Johnston, «lied tears.
The General was deeply distressed; but
said nothing in anger. Some one present
declared that the villain who committed
the deed ought to be prosecuted or shot.
He replied that if he sued or killed him
it would make the man nó better, and it
would do himself and his family no good;
that he would be compelled to endure
the outrage as there was no redress for
it. The dog was dead and nothing could
restore him to life, and he hoped that his
family would tiear their loss with forti^
tude. 4 ,.4.,
Ml
m
Umler^h^^trOTá^e of''the ga^ic'
we two boys were made usofol In
to ride down and cut off from the Herd,
the'deer that he picked out to shftot.
It wa* « wild i rk, foil of old timber,
with varieties of hill and dalo, «11 jn a
«s unlike theÉÉ
COI
NfAte of nature,
of tho midland I
Gardens resemble
No colonel of
od than
better
a eon-
on the
Oíd del
ver into historical records has discovered
that the grandfather of Gen. Robert E.
Leewasariv/tlof Gen. Washington in a
love «ffair. The pbjectoftheir affection was
a beautiful Miss Grimes, the first love ojf
Washington, and whom he celebrated ««
"the lowlaiid beauty." Lee was suc-
cessful «nd bore off the prize. The son
of his marriage, "Light Horse"
Lee, was always held in great frl
by Washington, and Irving, in his
graphy, suggests that the,memory of this
tenderness for the mother was not with-
out its influence in connection with the
son.
The friendship continued,between them
until the death of the ¿«'Father of bis
Country." Major General fíarry Lee,
the father of Gen. Robert E. Lee, was a
gallant officer, the author of " Memoirs
of the W«r in tho South;" governor of
Virginia in 1701; an advocate of the Fed-
by Congress
o# the 0
the hearts of his countr
rail
' 4'
(K|® §
ümP
Immw
W9
.' ym%
' : SS •
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.
The Weekly State Gazette. (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 17, No. 42, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 7, 1866, newspaper, July 7, 1866; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth181632/m1/1/?q=%22Military+and+War+-+Wars+-+Civil+War%22: accessed June 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.