The Prairie Blade. (Corsicana, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, February 29, 1856 Page: 2 of 4
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PRAIRIE BLADE.
J. R. LOUGH RIDGE,. . T.T.Tr..Editor.
CORSIC ANA,* TEXAS,
Friday Morning, February 29,1856.
AKNotrticiKG Candidates for Office :
Beat Offices #3 00
County Offices 5 00
District Offices.... .10 00
State Offices ........ j5 00
ET Invariably in Advance. «£3>
M
9 n q 3 § $ 3
No Legal Advertisements will be
in8erted in this paper,* t3nx.rs8 thev
arb accompanied by the money, or
THE payment assumed by some res.
ponstble person. StTCH advertise-
ments are in all cases due at the
time op their insertion. v
8 awiJ'j _
varroeeanty. Election on the firs
in August next .* ^ .V '
O* We are requested and authorized to an
Bounce A. Duren, as a Candidate for the office
of County I'leik for ftavanro Comity.
Eleetion'on the first Monday in August
next.
83* We are authorized and requested to
announce Jeremiah Cunningham as a candi-
date for the office of Awessor and Tax Col-
lector for Navarro County.
Election on the first Monday in August
next.
O* We are authorized and requested Jo an-
nounce Presley Donaldson as a candidate for
the office of Chief Justice of Navarro eounty.
Election on the^ first Monday in August
next. " '
OJ" We are authorized and requested,_ to
announce B. D. Gerrel, as a candidate tor the
office of County Clerk, of Navarro coun-
ty. E'ection first Monday in August next.
: Tm-
ttl§Si
We are authorized and requested, to
announce Jesse S. Walton, as a candidate fo
re-election to the office of Sheriff, of Navarro
eounty. Election first Monday in August
next. .
" B3*We are authorized and requested to
announce James Hiner, as a candidate,for. the
office of Assessor and Tax Collector of Na-
varro county Election first Monday;'in Au-
WT We are authorized and requested to an-
nounce T. G- Brooks, of this place, as acan-
didate for the office of Asseasor^ aRd Ta^
Collector, of NavarraCotmty, Election first
~ inext. * .
The Hon. Lewis Cass, fell from; the steps
of As Patent Office at W ashi ngton on the
8th met., and was dangerously injured.
53* We understand that the steamer Jen-
kiss is now at Pine Bluff or near that place.
The Trinity ts nowiu'fine boating order.
TnrGGERY.—'1 ht last New Orleans Delia
contains an article describing the manner in
which, manv persons in that city have been
assassinated, or struck with slung shot. This
is truly a lamentable state of affairs when the
Queen city of the South, has the blighting
name that must now be given to her. The
course of the editors of the Delti has been
noble and praissworthy. A short extract from
the Delta will explain :
"Citizens of New Orleans! think of the
men who have been " thugged " from Mr.
Durell to Mr. Corcoran, and ask yourselves
in the presence of Jehovah, and of your chil-
dren (who are His children) will you consent
to live in Scdom any longer. Forty assas-
sins, or perhaps less, have reduced Neu
Orleans to this."
Mean while the Delta is not intimidated, an
assassin never murdered thought. It must
live against him as a terrible witness—a Dun-
can at the feast of a druakan—Macbeth. The
Delta has done its duty to the community ; it
has told the truth, and one of its editors, has
been " Thugged" in consequence, but a greai
Journal is a Corsican Hydra, described by Dn •
raas, for when one head is struck down, an
other arises to struggle like its predesessor.
Banks.
We pick up no exchange this . week but
has a round blessing to pour npon the head
oft his man monster. What! says one in fipj
j3 f It -
N« rtberarPresident with the most of hi* Cab-
inet infected with Freesoilistn 1 and now the
Speaker, whose powar is untold in arranging
committees, and stamping a name and char-
acter to all he would see prosper. The ac
Lnowledged champion of Freesoil factionist,
must now take his seat in spite of the wish
and vote of she whole South and West.
As to our h'tmble sell we never liked banks,
and always were reminded of shinplaslers and
counterfeit bills when the very name was
mentioned. In this case we are told he will
be a Bank of the United States, and not a
little petty Bank,—if so, we will have nothing
to say. j If he takes the oath of office and
obeys it, we have uothing to fear) for although
a northern Bank this bank will have a Capital
that will ever cause bills to be taken anywhere
at par!
War is the East.—The news by our last
files of papers from the East, is of some im-
port.
The Russiain Bear has drawed up his paws
preparatory for a winters nap It is supposed
he will entirely abandon the Crimea, and hold
his entire force on Caucassus. A small fire
is still kept up on South Sevastopol.
It is rumored that George M Dallas has
been appointed Minister to Great Britain in
place ot' Mr. Buchanan spg* So far a*
we can determine from the past acts of this
Minister, as such, he has given general satis
faction to the officers and people of the United
States, as an able and efficient advocate of our
rights abroad.
We have nothing to lose in this change,
as Mr. B's place will be filled to overflowing
in the person of the Ex-Vice President
Step th& Aflccri is mailt ot I
Watchmaker of Waxahaehie, to be fonnd in
this number. Mr. S. is prepared to exe-
cute all orders in bis line, with promptness,
a call.,
the list of valuable articles
offered for sale by gainuM Locke, Wholesale
dealer in hardware &e. New Orleans^ Mr.
L. has a splendid assortment—call on him at
Nob. 7 8 & 9, Front Levee street N. O.
55* We call attentio to the Card of Smith
& Bro. of N. O. They offer for sale the lar-
gest stock and greatest variety of goods in
tber line, to be found in the South- West. —
Call when you visit the*city at their sadd£ry
werehou*e7 Canal street, N. 0.
The following resolotion was introduced
by Mr. Poller in the House at Washington,
"Rr solved, that any agitation of the slavery
question, is unwise and unjust to every por-
tion of the Union, injurious, to every section
ol the Union, and ought not to be counten-
anced."
Said Resolution was adopted by one ma-
jority.
Meacham offered a resolution, declaring
that in the 'opinion of the House, the repea l
of the Missouri Compromise was a useless
and factious agitation of the slavery question,
and unwise^and unjust to the American peo-
ple. * This resolution was adopted n
A Jumper.—-John BagJer, in the ^Louis-
ville Times, offers to bet from $3,000 to 5,000
that Be can .pimp, on a dead level one foot fur-
than any man in world, or that be can stand
flat-footed npon the earth and Teap a brick
andfcur thick-- .. #
W*Vt Ulto to see htm jump ha tallest.—
Wonder if he never has a stone bruise.
US-We give, our readers this week, an
amusing piece nnder the caption of "Song."
Its aim is to benefit those who think it neces-
sary, for them to imkat* othvs instead of be
lag natural.
vv
IEST We never pick op the Scientific Amei -
i«an without being convinced with regard to
the great knowledge of the publishers, on ev-
ery subject that comes before them, or upon
every thing they sre called upon for informa-
tion. The last one must be of great use to
mechanics-
53* The weather is the same as ever, only
a little more given to the submurging order.
The ground is thoroughly sstnrated and over-
flowing with water; our rivera are at the
looming stage, ond steamers successfully
ploughing them.
' Our roads are rendered almost impassable
for wagons—and we think our hope in get-
ting our supplier is in the navigation of the
Trinity. .....
_ JdJ-OorDevil says there is a" man in this
scanty to tall his head lives in another county.
IffQreflly,
notorious Abolitionist,, late'y had a fight in
which we learn, the latter came ofi rather the
worst for the encounter,
By direction of the Post Master General,
all papers containing circulars, handbills &c.,
are to be charged letter postage.
The N. Y. Courier, lately came to us with
an ad/ertisment enclosed., which we will
not publish till mr. penile ion, the publisher,
secures to us our pay. Now who has to pay
for that ?
' A HORRIBLE TRA.#DY,
We saw a letter a few days: ago, written
from But-na Vista, Shelby c&oty, Texas,
which spoke of a shooting scrapeat that place
on the 19th ult. We cannot describe it in
fower words or in better language, than the
writer has done . Hp says : ^.
" On yesterdey,in Bn- na Vista, Wm. Thor-
nian, M. Wheeler, John Yarborovgh and Bob
McCoy, went to the house of San H. Cooper,
for the purpose of raising a rofr with Ste-
phen S. Runnels, who was at fee timtf, in
Cooper's house, but Cooper was across^ the
street, opposite the house in 4ie grocery.—
Runnels got up and walked out^t the piazza,
when Therman drew a five-shoofer'an'l fired
at him. Runnels then returned the fire,
without efE ct upon either pa^,' John Yar-
borough next shot Runnels om behind,
(which shot ki'led him, he r survived
three hours.) Runnels then & arborough
through the thiah, and the n •? he shot
Wheeler breaking his am ig which
time Therman was beating 1 over??he
head with a pistol. Runnel itew an-
other pistol, when Therms ed, but
not in time to save himself, els shot
him just above the hip. I ,ay tha*.
Therman was dead, and * t is so.
During the fight, Cooper r , d chan-
ged several shots on the si'* and
wounded somti of the o" "*rs.
Cooper v " > '
and woi* >
IttA. Hit
fought lifte a soioiei - *
at all, but made all the opj .etreat
aftsr he was mortally wouna ^aw him
die, he bid me an affectiona. welt, and
was not heard to sigh or gro jcause he
was too manly. Ths Whe. and their
company are now in search o ? Cooper,
they swear vengeance against They are
here to-day, drinking and swe around."
We have neither time nor to com-
ment. — Palestine A tnerican.
Another SuiciDf.—We lea rotu a gen-
tleman from Kaufman, that ^ • ■ ffor-
ton, Principal of the institute that place,
committed suicide a few days ago, cutting his
throat with a razor. He was laboring at the
time nnder an attack of mania potu.— Dab
las fferald
partic-
A Cincinnati paper gives the
ulars of the death of a negro woman of
that city, who came to her death by starva-
tion I Had that poor negro been in a South-
ern iliate, she never would have been allowed
to die thus. The Bible tells us the tender
mercies of the wicked are cruel.
Banks is said to be a man born to good luck,
and that he has never been beaten for office
when bis eligibility allowed him a race.
From a letter just received, we extract the
following :
" Washikgthh, Feb. 4. 1856.— You have
no idea of the number of office seekers who
are here, waiting and praying fur a fk oppor-
portunity fo besiege some acquaintance who
has offices to dispose of, or can interpose for
him with those Who have.
The Brick Block at the corner of Saline
and Fayette street, was destroyed by fire to-
day—can give no Idea of the amount of prop-
erty lost but suppose it very considerable."
We had the pleasure of meeting with our
old friend Wm. Melton on Monday last, Mr.
Melton-has been active, and energetic in his
feflbna Hrgervglifa cmtetHasptg. 'flB
traduced a bill in the House intended to mili-
tate against old Spanish and fraudulent laud
titles, in its passage it will meet with much
opposition ; yet Mr. Melton informs us that he
will have the assistance of membors of the
first talents in the present Legislature.
We dare not hope for the passage of this
law at the present Session'of our Legislature.
The members who have hitherto winked at its
passage and smiled at the want of Such a la w
on our Statute Book, are nuw seen in crowds
arouud tne Capitol, like hungry wolves lickin
their jaws in expectation of the spoils they
hope one day to receive.
Itf The last news from Oregon is to the
effect that the Indians had been entirely rout-
ed by Col. Kelley
We refer our readers to the communication
of Messrs C'ompton & Stro her, to be found
in tbisissue. 'I he sound of the ax is heard in
onr forests, and the voice of the driver on the
prairies hitherto solitary wastes as he lurne
the n in for cultivation. The impatient steam-
er awaits at the mouth of the Trinity for en -
couragement to c me up.
Timothy Hatd-up, lias been laid nnder
the shelf.
Our County Jail,
Mr. Editor:
It seems that our Jail.- was poorly con
structed from the commencement; there being
but one room some ten feet ^qitore, and 65 or
7 feet high, built upon the ground ; from which
circumstance the water from ti frequent and
heavy rains runs underneath—and as tho floor-
ing, composed of hewn logs, lies also Upon the
ground, there is a continual-evaporation of flu-
ids taking place, and damp foul gases, "odeiif-
erous aud pestiferous " asc^p^in^ and con-
taminating the air of the apartment, which by
no nesi sis conducive to comfort orhealth.The
Jail is dark and miserably 'ventilatedthr>re
being but two air holes- ft by inj&rt&to the
whole building, and as' it is con ttimpiated to
increase the thickneiss of the* wails of the Jail
by building an out-side one? and filling in be-
tween the two ;—when finished the com-
bined wa'ls must be ttiffee -feetjit least—ma-
ent, ivithout afiy provision.ftavg^been made
by the Court for increased. venHiation.
It certainly is not designed l/y,«fur laws, to
confine a man for safe keeping in ^jail wbpre
the prisoner can neiihar enjoyheajth or com-
fort. That the present /ail is an unhealthy one
—we need only to appeal to the*> decision of
the physicians of the touniy, jwd they will
bear ample testimony. ; ; f
And when building rammiU|fBB are appoin-
ted to plan and arrange^bilc buiyings, pris-
ons &c.,— they J^.ing without i^kno |^%p
of hygienic laws it is n thing mqrg .tha -the
duty of medical men to interne ve
suggestions; which suggestion!! mjiy bs sp
preciated by the public of not," as they choose.
I wonld nggfM te -idea of a gra-
ting at ea«h end of tbe building, 3 by Sfeet.
The iron bars, to be so 'argeas to preclude
the possibility of the escape of the inmates.
Charity, benevolence, aid every gocd feel-
ing of our natures woate recommend, and
urge this thing upon the agention of the pub-
lic. If some change is noi to be made uow
for the health and comfort of Jail, it must
and will be humiliating fur tire mature fort he
citizens of the proud and pr«speruus cuuniy
of Navarro, to escort a, Mrang-r to our miser
able Jail and there show him a specimen of
her public enterpri *e and taste. ' •*
If it should ever be tbe mishrtune '-ot the
humble writer, to be cast intoths crjl of utter
darkness, me thinks in his er **ig moments,
you might hear his lemtintati<
me a little more light and bre.
PitGh in a word of two M
the natives a little. «
Oh , give
you please."
tor! and stir
TROS."
* natives,
.. ptisbti,
d bonafide
hut say you,
ill you look
DCf" If the above don1*
tbeiche-
Cbrisrian c.^.
New Orleans. ^tVben i.
it is not therefore self ev
evidence that he is a villai,
of the Hon. County court
into this matter?
Hkre bk one.—Nut r, since, in
South Carolina, a clergyrr * wa8 preach.
ingon the dicohedience of Jonah, when
commanded to go and prea<|, to ,he
vites After eipatiating (brva C((tl8i(ieml.le
length of time on the irulj aw|u| cuu«e^
quence ol disobedience to divine corns
tnands, ha exclaimed in a 0j thunder,
that passed through the co^regation |ikB'
an electric shock, "And sm there any Jos
nahs here?" There was J negro pres .
ent, whoso name was Jonah • who think-
ing himself called . n, immediately arose,
nnd, turning up his white eye to the
pieacher, with th< liroqdesf |^r|n antj ^est
b< w, answered, "Here be Massa,"
Cardinal Richelieu one 4ay f id to [VI
de Sart, a celebrated phvskiau, l am grey
heade I, y> t my l-eard is b'Uck ; and vnur
head is blnclt, a'ld your b^ard is grey
Can you account for these appearances,
doctor ?" ''E'i«ily," relied de Sart.'
' they proceed from exerciae-_fr„m ja|,or
• f parts; your eminent Irains have
worked hard, and to have my jau>* f"
The wolf Hunt.
A scene in theji'e of Corfcmn Jones, a distin-
guished hunter of N.tvarro county. Texas.
W hen Corban was ahout fourteen yea^s
old, his people residfd iu Mo He was noted
for his desire for adventures and reckless dar-
ing. The following adventure of his wiiiie at
the 8ge we speak of, — if it dope not place
him with '.he illustrious Putnam of Revolution-
ry renown, it at least gives us an idea ot his
character when a boy.
Ip his neighborhood, an old she wolf had
played .the wild with the young lambs and
stock of the farmers. At such a rate had she
carried on her depredations, th"t the people
bad tried agai'ti and again some way to destroy
her, but to no offect— sagacity always worked
out her salvation.
Corban had been told by an old V.r-
ginian, to take notice the first, second, and
third days of May, aifsj he would hear her
howl at the den. He did so, and sure enough
heard her in the direction of the4en Assem-
bling the neighbors, the chase was soon up.
and in a short time the den found. Thr
determination of t he hunte.s was, that the
wolves within mu*t now be killed. It wa>
found out that there were six half grown
wolpea within, and tliat tbe mother had es-
caped.? -- - - ',
Alt hands set to dig them out,—the dogs
were .8oq in tfia me fighting, but to great
agtvfojabe ^walves were so much
mtr ahe ciog><tfiat they couhf ■ get
where tne dogs could not, and were snapping
them up at ar. alarming rate Co rban at this
juncture, volunteered his services, to go into
the cave and kill the wolves,—many advis d
him 10 desist, and one who has since won a
world's renown as a physician,* patted him on
the shoulder, and toid him that he was the
bravest boy in the world, and he could sue
ceed if he choose.
With a candle in one hand and a French
dirk tied to a short st ck in the other, Qor-
pan wiih much ditfculty succeeded in making
his entrance. Could a pai ter, lay open,
the dark chamber of a gloomy cave, and show
a pack of mad wolves flying from the hand of
our young hero, whilst a number of faithful
hounds} trotted them round for their pleasure,
and destruction ; he would be able to aid our
minds to realize the reality of t he scene that
ensued. One after anotner the wolves fell,
and made thp deep cavern resound with their
death howls!' This lasted fur many
minutes, till the n ighboring caves and valley a
reechoed with the sounds. Shortly all was
slfll. Corban agai'n "appeared shove ground
with many honorable scratches a^wi his face
and hands, and reported all slain. Chase was
th' nanade for the old one, and alt«r several
days running, and by putting in fresh dogs,
she was tatf>^ 2;.i westroyea. In & short time
Corban had more socks and suspenders pro
sented to hi tn than he knew what to do with;
these carao from the oldand young ladies of
the vicinity, who no# looked upon him as one
of the bravest fellows aiive.
ly Irish air. Had it not been admirably
selected, I could hardly have borne th*
transition. But there was enough of aoA*
ening melody, mingled witb tbe •prigfat*
liness of the air, to lead me gently to m
gayer mood, in which she left me.
in the mean time, most of the yotimg It*
dies and gentlemen had formed a "(rrff
round iMiss Aurelia Emma Theodosia
Augusta Crump, and were earnest!) en-
gaged in pressing her to play* One
you ig lady even went so as fer as |o drop
on her knees before her, and i thie
post ure to beseech "her dear Augusta just
to play the delightful overture of
something that sounded to me like "Bfex*
in the fretx?1 This petition was urged
with such a melting sweetness of ^oice
such a bet witching leer at the gentlemen!
and such a theatric heave of Ihe bosom
that it threw tbe young gentlemen Into
transports. Hall was rude enough to
whisper in mine ear, "that be thought {*
indelicate to expose an undmantled bosom
to a perpendicular view of a large eomp#-
nay and he muttered something about.
"republican simplicity," I Knew not exactly
what. But I assured the fair petitioner
was so overcome by her solicitude for tbo
overture, that she thought of nothing else,
and was wholly unconscious that tber*
w.asa gentleman in the room. As to hie
insinuation about "points of view," f eon*
vinced him by an easy argument that it'
was wholly unfounded; for that this wa#
tbe very point of view in which an «%
posed neok mU& always be seen, while
ma* continue than
that, as tbb young lady must have ueen
apprized of this, she would hardly take so
But Germans, Frenchmen, and Italians ! much trouble for nothing, But to return.
The Song.
It is not to avoid tbe malediction of
Shakespeare upon such "as have not mu%
sic in themselves, and are not charmed
with the concord of sweet sounds," that 1
profess to be I. nd of music; but because
J am, in truth, ;xtra.vagont!y f< nd of it.-—
But I am not fond of French music; and
as lor the Italian, I think that any one who
will date to inflict it upoYi an American
ear, ought to be sent to the Penitentiary
without a trial. It is true that some of
the simple, national French airs are very
fine; but there is not one in a thousand
Italian tunes, simple or compound, which
is not manslaughter. The German com-
positions are decidedly the best from the
Continent of Europe ; but even these are,
of late, partaking so much of the vices of
France aud Italy, that they have become
scarcely sufferable. As yet, however,
they may be safely admitted into a land of
liberty and sense. Scotland has escaped
the corruptions which have crept into the
empire of music'rand, Consequently, her
mus5c recommends itself, with irreststahle
charms, to every ear which is not vitiated
l y the senseless rattle ol the Continet.
Iteland is a little more contaminated ; but
siill her compositions retain enough of their
primitive simplicity and sweetness to enti-
tle them to the patronaga of ail who wouid I
cultivate a correct taste in ibis interesting
department of the fine arts. I would n«4
be understood as speaking here withon;
any limitations or restrictions; but I <5o
maintain, that, with exception ,
all ot" ttiirsfiiif of xnerih^whiofe iv mrvr hs t
in the wotid is to be found in Scotland c
Ireland.
*Dr. ^appingfon,
For the Qlade. V
The Ciabbed Husband. f
, 'r~~t t>ttj>t-a fait j| —-
Miss Mary Long was a native of South
Alabama, and had t.rrived at the age of 115
Summers, when her hand was sought by not
a few of the moat talented and worthy youlig
men in the vicinity of the Miss Springs, the
place of her mother's residence, at the time
we sha II begin her narrative.
Mary was an orphan, havir g lost her father
are decidedly the best, that is, the n ost ex
pert performers in ihe world. They per
form all over the world, and, in order to
exhibit themselves to the best advantage,
they select the most difficult and compli-
cated peices. The people at large pre™
sume that the best performers qiust be the
best judges of music, and must make tbe
best selections ; they therefore forego the
trouble of forming an opinion of their own,
and pin their faith upon the decisions, or,
rather, the practice of the amateurs. It
was somehow in this way, I presume, that
the fashionable music of the day first ob-
tained currency. Haying become prfeva^
lent, it has become tolerable ; just as has
the use of tobacco or ardent spirits. Aud,
while upon this bead, I would earnestly
recommend to the friends of reform in our
favoured country to establish an "Antis
mad-music Society," in order to suppress,
if possible, .the cruelties of our modern-
musical entertainments.
If the instrumental music of France
and Italy "be bad, their vocal music is, if
possible, a thousand times worse. Nei-
ther the English nor the-Georgia language
furnishes me with a term expressive of
the horrors of a Flinch or Italian'song.as
ii is agonized forth t)y o.ne of their pro*
fessed singers. The law should make it
justifiable homicide in any man to kill an
Italian in the very act of inflicting an il
pensfroso upon a refined- American ear.
And yej, with all the other European
abominations whi^h have crept into our
highly-favoured■ country, the"J^ench and
Italian style of Ringing and playing has
mdde ira way hither ; and it is not uncom-
mon to bear oi$r boarding-school misse?
piping aw*y, not merely in the style, but
jan^oa#? .i^ .iiintn« —.
This t can bear very well if there happen
to be a Frenchman or" an Italian present^
because I kno% that he suffers more fr<) i
the words than I do from the music ; for F
confess that upon such occasions I feel
something of the savage malignity which
visits the sins of a nation upon any of its
citizens. But it most frequently happens
that I am put to the tortures of which I
in i< fancy. She was all that a young Sady j uave been speaking without this mitiga-
should be, so far as qv.nmies ot the heart
are concerned. She had been to school to the
best of teachers, and they all loved her and
and gave many little mementoes as tributes
oforaise for her proficiencecy in her stodies,and
rectitude of conduct. Nature had been very
liberal not alone in the qualities of heart but
also in her person ; but this I will not take
time to describe ;. it was of that modest char-
acter which men love,and fools cannot appre-
ciate. The sweet essence of a noble soul
peeping from a form of person, that the artist's
chisel would work ages in vain to inrtate,
which God bestowed when his power called
it into life. Mary was beautiful and rich in
virtues of the heprt—and a hundred hearts
fluttered with a hope of her smile whenever
she moved in the great.congregation. The
only fault—if fault she had, was her entire
confidence in the sincerity of motive which
prompted the acts of others.
Among her beaux, moved one whose air
was that of deep melancholy. Oscar Ulm,
the son of a proud Virginia farmer, stuck to
her through wet and dry, ro modest hint from
the pure .Mnry could drive him away—Bgaiu
and again,she told him she would never be his.
At this he only returned a melancholy sigh ;
wrote whole pages of poetry, (hooked howev-
detached parcels,, here and tlyere from the.
British Quarterly's ) and sent Uieia m his
own to ;he guileless Mary ; shut himself up
tor weeks, looked as old Nick, cursed tht>
world, made all his rivals his confidents,
showed ihem hajr, letters, and <ther little keep-
sakes which he saidshe gave him. A Judas at
hear:, he sought to win his way through fraud
to the heart of his mistress. His ietters were of
that sickning, sentimental order which a half
cracked wretch wouid write to one who held
him as a slave. Things soon looked bright
on Oscar's side. All of llary's suiters lor-
sook her, as one bet'othed
TO BE CON TINUED.
A Ca6e of Passionate Attraction.
—Strong-minded wnmtn lawyer.—'"You
say your husband abandoned you. He is
quite; right if attracted in auo her direc-
tion,"
Young Lady.—"And there is a married
man who is persecuting me with atten-
tions."
The Strong-Winded.—"Also right.
May I ask his name?"
Young Lady.—"It 'is your husband,
ma'am."
The Strong-Minded.—,lWhat! Out of
my office, you good-for-nothing! Oh!
the villain, won't I have him punished for
this!"
Miss Crump was inexorable. Sho
declared that she was entirely out ol
practice. "She scarcely ever touched the
piano"Mamma was always scolding
her for giving so much of her time to
French and Italian, and neglecting her
music and painting; tut she told mamma
the other day, that ii really was eo,
irksome to her to quit Rochine and Dante,
and go to thrumming upon the piano, that,
but for the obligations of filial obedience,
she did not think she should e.var touch it
ugain."
Here M£, Crump was kind enough,
by the merest accident in tbe world, to
interpose, and to relieve the company from
farther anxiety.
"August4, my dear," said she, "go tad
play a tune or two; the company will ex-
cuse your hoarseness."
Miss Crump rose immediately at Iter
mother's bidding, and moved ta the piano,
accompanied by a large group of smiling
faces. „
. "Poor child," said Mrs. Crump at. th$
went forward, "she is frightened to death.
I ,w|sh Augusta could overcome hei diffi*- - T
dence," ' - ^
-ii Miss Crump was educated at -Philadel-
phia ; she had been taught to sing by
Madatn Piggisqueaki, who was a pupil of
Ma'tn'selie Crokifroggietta, who had song
with Madam Catalani; and she had taken
lessons on the piano from Seignor Bnest* .
fussi, who bad played with Paganini,.
# She seated herself at the, piano, roeked
to the right, then to the left, leaned fb#
ward, then backward, and began. " She
placed her right hand about midway the
keys, and her left about two octaves be-
low it, She now put off to the right in%
' 'x --*--inr ^ha trrliln tn'nr nndih^
left after it. The left then led the way
back, and the right pursued it ill like jrnWjftp
ner. The right turned, and repeated it
first movement; hut the left outran H this
tjme, bopped over it, and Sung ft entirely
off* he track. It ckme in again, he we ver
behind the left on its return', and passed it
in the satre style* They now became
highly incensed at each other, and met
furiously on the middle gronnd. Here a
most awful conflict ensued for about the
space of t<>n seconds, when the right whip*
ped off all of a sudden, as I thought, fairly
vanquished. But I Was in the error
against which Jack Randolph cautions us:
"It bad only fallen back to a stronger po-
sition." It mounted upon two black
key?, and commenced the note of a rattle-
snake. This had a wonderful effect upon
the left, and placed the doctrine of "snake
charming" beyond dispute. The left
rushed furiously towards it repeatedly, but
seemed invariably panic-struck whW it -
came within six keys of it, and as invaria-
bly retired with a tremendous roaring down
tbe bass keys. It continued^ its assault*,
sometimes by the way of the na'uials,
sometime by the way of the sharps, and
mm
m -i
m
tion. It was thus with me a few even-
ings ago, at Mrs. B -*s party!.
Tea had been disposed o^ and the non-
sensical chit-chat of su^h occasions had
begun to flag, when I invited Miss Mary
Wil.iams to the piano. She rose prompt-
ly at my request, without any affected airs,
and with no other apology than that Mshe
felt some diffidence at playing in the pres.
ence of Miss Crump." Tbe piano was
an admirable one, and its tones were ex-
quisitely fine. Mary seated herself at it,
and, after a short but beautiful prelude, she
commenced one of Burn's plaintive songs,
to a tune which was new to ire, but wh'ch
was obviously from the poet's own land,
and by one who felt the inspiration of his
verse. The compter and the poet were
both honoured bv the performer. Mary's j sometimes uy a : .^5
all its attend Iff dislodge the right from
its stronghold proving ineffectual, St tWW
close up to its adversary and expired.
Any one, or rather no one, can imag.
ine what kind of noises the piano gave
forth during the conflict. Certain It kb
no one can describe them, and, therefore, I
shall not attempt it.
The batt!e ended. Miss Augusta moVedf
as though she would have arisen, hdt tbir
was protested against by a number of
voices at once : "One song, ray dear Au-
relia," said Miss Small; "you must sing
that sweet little French air vou used tar
voice was inimitably fine. Her enuncia.
tion was clear and distinct, with just em-
phasis enough to give the verse its appro-
priate expression, without interrupting the
meludy of tbe music; and her modulations
were perfect.
She had closed, and was in the act of
rising, before I awoke from the delight-
tut revery into which 3be had lulled me.
1 arrested her. however, and insisted upon
her proceeding; when she gave me
one ot Allan RamreyV be*t, to meas*
ure equally appropriate. This she follow-
ed >with TannabilFs "Gloomy Winter's
now a_wa.'N and wag again retiring, when
<ny friend Hall obse/vft; "See,~MTss Ma-T^g • -
ry, you've brought a itar to Mr. Bald-
win's eye, and you must not cease until
you chase it away with-some lively air."
Aty Iriend was right. The touching pa-
thos of Mary's voice, conspiring with a
train ol reflections which, the song inspir
ed, had really brought me to'tears. I
thought of poor Tannahill's fate. He was
the victim of a bookseller's stupidit*.
With men ol taste and letters, his fugitive
nieces, particularly his lyrics, hacl gained
liima well-deserved reputation; but he
Was not exempt from the common lot of
authors. He was attacked by'the ignor-
ant and the insidious ; and, with the
hopeless design of silencing these, he pre*,
paied a volume m,ire of his poems with
great care, aud sent ihemto a booksellor
for publication After the lapse of several
Piggisqueaki as so fond of'
Miss Augusta looked pitifully at her
mamma, and her mamma looked "sing'*
at Miss Augusta : accordingly, she square
herself for a song.
She brought her hands to the campus
this time in fine style, ami they eeeaedf
npw to be perfectly reconciled to eacK
other. They commenced a kind of col-
loquy ; the right whispering treble very
softly, and the left responding bass very
loudly. The conference had been kept up
until I began to desire a change of
the subject, when my ear caught, indie*
tinctly, some very curious sounds, which
appeared to proceed from the lips of Mlse;
Augusta: they seemed te be compounded
of a dry cough, a grunt, a hiccough, and a
whisper ; and they were introduced, itap*
"mm
weeks, they were returned without a ' peared to me, as interpreters between the
commitment, or an offer for them. " The [ right and left. Things progressed in tlife
mortification and disappointment were too
severe for his reasoir. It deserted him,
and soon after he was found dead in a tun-
nel of the burn which had b en the scene eyes were closed, his head rolled
of one of his earliest songs. Unfortunate- j fully from side to side ; a beam of
ly, in his madness he destroyed his favor-
ite works. fi
Such was the train of reflection, from
which Mary was kind enough, at the res
quest of my friend, to relieve tne by a live-
way for about tbe space of fifteen seconds,
when X happened toiiirect my attention to
Mr, Jenkins, from Philadelphia. Hie
grace-
heav*
enly complacency rested upon bis coun-
tenance ; and his whole man gave ine.
sistable demonstration that Miss Crump*e
music mad« him feel good all over. I had
just turned.from the contemplation of Mm
Hi
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Loughridge, J. R. The Prairie Blade. (Corsicana, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, February 29, 1856, newspaper, February 29, 1856; Corsicana, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth235685/m1/2/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.