The Texas State Times (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 4, Ed. 1 Saturday, December 23, 1854 Page: 1 of 4
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CITY OF ATJSTEN, TEXAS, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28,1854.
NUMBER 4
From Putnam's Mapurine-
Tto Fall ©r the Alamo-
xikmu tmbbt* to the xzmosyof n*d2 ssi>ias.
^^fefSgiv
i trioua ancestor, stretched upon racks of Cor-
tea, and it 'is not the fear of torture or of
i <WH; that can sever her from her purpose.
The serge has continued for ten days. The
Mexican General has received large reinforce-
On the 23d of February, 7836, General *ient and his anuy now numbers thousands.
State Anna entered San Antonio de Bexar ge been uneeasing in his efforts to batter
Mid took possession of the town without fir- the walls, but has thus far failed. The
~ a gun. Ta«tsniall garrison of one hun- jriuxaph is with Travis; but it is written in
1 ana thirty men, under the command of the heart of his ruthless foe that he must die,
liam Barret "Tratis, retired as he ad- an(j when the cannonade ii
r i is suspended on the
vanoed to the Alamo, oil the opposite side of g^h of March, a small breach has been effec-
the river, determined there to offer sucb re- te(j) an)j Santa Anna is determined, without a
jhtepBg to the progress of the tyrant as their summons to surrender, that the hour for assault
. riWHgiiui and resources should permit by a di- jjas arrived. During ten days a blood red
net appeal to the God of battles. Flushed has been streaming from the spire of
with the conquest so easily effected of the church in San Antonio proclaiming that
*._• v_ TvmniN>^ fnr __ 1J
ANOTHER J)OES TICKS.
\
K
«?•
town, the Mexican commander prepared for j no q^rter would be given to the champion
* ~ i the Alamo. He- 0f ^he Alamo—that blood alone would ap-
to be thrown up ott every peaSe the fury of Mexican malice, When the
d artillery to be planted sun again goes down, the flag is no longer
made most ^ffectiw.— geell) for the deed of which it wos a sign has
completed on the right jjggn accomplished.
by the 25th, and without jt jg mid-night Stars are smiling in the
ij the seige was at once com- firmament and the repose of paradise seems
hovering over the armed hosts, and hills
gloomy norning, devoted ; an(j plains which encircle the Alamo. The
oly purpose. Exulting in ca]m jg s0 deep and solemn that the angel of
upon which he is entering, j death seems to pause before the strife and
die river in person and j garbage which are to follow. A low murmur
^natters in a wnau atone < ap0i1 the air, gradually it becomes more
ding—from which he may j more distinct. Lights are glanch^tBys-
perceive the progress of teriously in the distance, and indicate some
exposing himself tO;his j nnu3ual movement. The besieging army is
•a immediate
csdered breastwi
commanding poij
wherever it
One battery
bank of the
waiting for
It is a dark
to a dark and i
Sbj
i mote
, in motion. There is no advance by columns;
is given, and
those hosts, the foarof the force of the Mexicans is so great that
jmakens the echoes fer j tj,e fort may be completely surrottnded, leav-
from their slumbers the ] jng intervals only for the fire of artillery. The
litants. But the defen- pj^g is girdled by a deep line of infantry,
have not for a single mo- an)j these are hemmed in and encompassed
of -the movements of their , another of cavalry. If the first feher or
foes—they watch the j 8hrink, they must be thrust forward to the
rerj gun; they see the a^nit by the sabres and lances of their com-
they listen bieathless, as if -
#ily
fttudied
match lighl
even at that "distance, they could here the
command totire; and when the walls of the
eity trembled under the shock of the ball,
and the frrfjqnents of parapet are whlled aloft
by the sudden impulse, they sent back a
shout of dei&nee, mingled with a discharge
from their wrn guns, as distinctive, if not
as deafe&ninjt, as the thunder of their assail-
berationa
ahouts
of the
[ for sevei
fiercely
Alamo. Bi"
tike spirits of
turned, and though
around j| ffetf
bands are
rades. Suddenly the batteries are in a blaze
and from their concentric positions, pour
forth radius of fire from the circle of Santa
Anna's vengeance verging to a single centre.
Amid the thunders thus created, their own
shouts hardly less terrible, and the martial
blasts of a hundred bugles, the Mexicans ad-
vance to the Alamo. A sheet of flame, from
rifles that never failed is the answer to the
charge. The infantry recoil and fall back
upon the cavalry; their ranks broken and
disordered by the deadly fire of the besieged.
The shouts from the fort are mingled with
the groans of the wounded and dying on the
plain, while the officers are endeavoring to re-
form their scattered masses. They return to
the attack, but the leaden shower which they
again encounter fells them to the earth by
ylattoons.
Travis shows himself on the walls, cheer-
ing his undaunted followers. Around him
are Crockett, Evans and Bonham, roused to
the last struggle, for they know their doom
is sealed. In quick succession rifle after rifle
i3 discharged, sending hundreds to their long
account. The Mexicans are again repulsed;
they fall back dismayed -and disheartened by
the dead and dying around them. The bat-
talion of Toluca—the flower of Santa Anna's
army—is reduced from four hundred to twen-
ty-three. Men have become for a moment
regardless of their officers, and are almost de-
lirious from the cries of anguish of their fal-
len and expiring comrades, yielding to influ-
ences which no decipline can restrain, and no
efforts repress. But the breach now appears
practicable; the disjointed forces, by the aid
of threats and entreaties, are rallied and once
„ , , .-.in more returned to the assault The fire from
>,seck that repose wh^chshajl^b jjama -has for sometime been growing
r for the contest which they^Xowei. and 8iower. Rifles have dropped from
many a vigorous hand, now cold Tin death
while other cling to their weapons even in the
agonies of dissolution. Ammunition too, has
been failing: one by one the muzzle drop,
and ere the last rifle is loaded and discharged,
the Mexicans have gained the wall. Fear-
fully conspicuous in that awful moment,
Travis receives a shot, staggers and dies. He
dies not unavenged. A Mexican officer rush-
es upon him and is about to plunge his sabre
into the bosom of the fallen; when, gathering
energy for a desperate effort, he bathes his
sword to which he still clings, in the blood of
his enemy, and they die together.
In the meantime the conflict has been rag-
ing hot and thick. The Mexicans have
poured into the citadel like famished wolves
furious for their prey. Each man struggles
with his adversary with the energy cf despair
dealing the death stroke with rifles, sabres, or
whatever missiles may be within reach. The
Texians are almost buried beneath the num-
of opponents. The carnage has been so ter-
rible that the slain are piled up in heaps.—
Death stares each survivor in the face, yet
still he struggles on. Crocket has been con-
spicuous in the melee, wherever the blows
feD hottest and fastest. He has forced his
way over piles of the dead bodies of his ene-
mies and has reached the door of the chapel.
Here he determined to make his last stand.—
At one glance of his eye he sees that the fete
of the Alamo rests upon himself alone, and
that fate nothing can avert. Travis has fal-
len ; and Evans is no more; Bowie expired
upon a bed of sickness, pierced to the heart
toke is away, and the rever-
in the distance; while the
still linger in the ears
cannonade is resumed,
lira, without pause or relaxa-
ntinued upon the walls of the
these walls yield no more than
defenders. The fire is re-
stones are shivered
stout hearts and willing
to repair every breach, and
the interior whatever may
~ from without. Earth is
crack fissure is elosed as
the eager efforts of those
; no evidence of success to-
of their enemies. The sun
behind the Western plains,
a pause in the jrork of demoli-
of the beseigers cease for
the Mexican thirst for blood
not a single drop has been shed
Alamo. Many of Santa Anna's
m the dust, before the artillerists
of the fort; but thus far they
L Darkness fells upon the be-
the besieged. The former raise
to prosecute the assault;
establish a close watch for the night;
come to-morrow.
ng dawns, and reveals to the
t of die fort the effect of the mid-
i of their enemies in the establish-
i additional batteries within the
'the Alamo. The bayonets of the
infantry whiel^ have crossed the riyer during
A|e night, glitter in the morning beams and
the plumes of the cavalry are seen waving on
the eastern hills to intercept aid from that
quarter. The contest is renewed by a small
skinailb between a small party of Texians,
sent in quest of wood and water, and a Mexi-
can detachment under General Sesma, but
i a mere overture of the grand perfor-
i ofthe day. The thunders of the hea-
r ord ance under the direction of Col. Am-
, are soon roused into action; volley af-
ter volley is poured into the fort, and answered
only, except at rare intervals, by the shouts of
those within. There is no pause, no cessa-
tion. Still the cannonade goes on, shells fiy
hissing through the airland balls bury them-
selves within the ramparts, but night again
comes on, and the jtfexioan General in vain
kefes fa* evidence of success. Baffled but
aot discouraged, he advances his line of en-
trenchments, and prepares with the morning
light, to resume his bloody task. The North
wind sweeps over the prairies, as it only
sweeps in Texas, a stormy lullaby to the
stormy passions of those contending hosts.—
The darkness is broke only by the feeble
blase of a few huts—fired by the Texians—
^ which had furnishsd a cover to the enemy.
"* The flames curl upwards with a sickly glare,
and their fitful flashes throw a lurid light for
lie Invents a Patent Medicine.
New York, Nov. 6, 1854. )
701 Narrow street. j
Congratulate me ! My fortune is made ! . . _.
I am immortalized, and I've done it myself. j garnished; the M. P.'s are civil; and the
T I- • . .i i . .1? _ * _ 1 • Knrra Jnn'f of Aot onrr mrtrn rJ ntrO T T1 fiJft
; arrested, are instantly discharged by the j
1 police magistrate. No more building mate- j
j rials on the sidewalks; no midnight murders; t
| no more Sunday rows; no more dirty streets; .
| no more duels in Hoboken; and no more lies ^
in the newspapers. Broadway is swept and
ana nasnea wow a iuna ngnt lor b Mexican bayonet; Bonham falls directly
a moment upon the slnmbenng army and ex- ^fDre hi ^ he fi'n(is himself the only liv-
££> ed ^ 811 W \iaS.^orot the 163 who had been hiscom-
^ - , . panions. Perhaps at that moment the life i
Mexican appeared mac- j blood creeps to his heart by a natural impulse; i
engaged in the construction of | but it is only for a moment. The desperation j
.4, batteries. There is but little fir- . 0f his position sends it back with the force of
in?.°® ? f 1 , Travis and his tnen, with an avalanche. His foes glare on him with
spjnts unsubdued and With energies nnawa- blows from muskets, lances and sabres. The
fccnod, are applying their contracted resour- strength of a hundred men seems concentra-
ees e purpose of defenee. _ No heart fal- j te)j jjis single arm, as he deals out death to
no pulse throbs with diminished power; ! his iuiless and unsparing assailants. Their
^i7L^.™nl el4^ necesntyim- J bodies.have grown into a rampart before him.
Blackened with fire and smoke, besmeared
poses. All is confidence and determination,
and in every breast there is firm reliance
ajiziaging from the holiness of the cause and
.certainty of its final triamph.
Sunday follows; but brings no rest to
those whom God has created in his own im-
age, and who in violation of his commands,
are dins yielding to their erring and unhal-
kmed passions. Perhaps Within the chapel
smoke,
with blood, and roused into frenzy, he stands
like some fabled god of antiquity, laughing to
scorn the malice, and the power and fury of
his enemies. New fire flashes from his eye
and new vigor nerves his arm. On his assail-
ants rush, but it is upon death, ^certain and
immediate. They fall, but their places is
still supplied, and so quickly that the dead
eo"se?Fat.ed to Jhe, w°rfip °f seem to rise up before-him "like armed men
Ae Almighty, and distinguished by the em- j from the teetlf of Cadlnu3. At length a ball
from an unseen rifle pierces him in the fore-
head ; he falls backward to the earth, in the
streams of gore which gurdle around him.—
i of suffering and of salvation, which sur-
mounts the dome, heads may be bowed in
prayer to die God of battles for deliverance
from their sanguinary foe : but that foe takes
no heed of Sabbath. Exclusive followers as
they proclaim themselves of the true church, j
they doom to destruction the very temple j
they have created for its worship; and kiss-
ing the crofs, suspended from their nccks,
and planted before every camp, they point
their guns upon the very symbol for which
they profess unbounded reverence. The fire
neglected and ignorant, is undoubtedly as
honest and sincere as his Prussian education
will admit «£. I have .corrected the orthogra-
phy, and revised some gramatical inaccura-
cies ; but besides attending to these trifles,
inserting marks of punctuation, and putting
the capitals in the right places, I assure you I
have made no alteration :
Sail Harbor, June 31,1854.
"My Dear Doctor—(You know I attended
medical lectures half a winter, and once as-
sisted in getting a crooked needle out of a
baby's leg; so I understand perfectly well the
theory and practice of medicine, and the doc-
tor is perfectly legitimate under the Prussian
system.) By the incessant study required in
this establishment, I had become worn down
so thin that I was obliged to put an overcoat
on to cast a shadow—but accidentally hear-
ing of your balsam, I obtained a quantity,
and in obedience to the homeopathic princi-
ple of this institution, took an infinitesimal
dose only; in four days I measured 182 inches
round the waist—could chop eleven cards of
hickory wood in two hours and a half; and,
on a bet, carried a yoke of oxen two miles
and a quarter in my left hand, my right being
tied behind me; and if any one doubts the
feet the oxen are still to be seen.
About two weeks after this, had the plea-
sure of participating in a gunpowder explo-
sion, on which occasion my arms and legs
were scattered over the village, and my man-
gled remains pretty equally distributed
throughout the entire country. Under these
circumstances my life was despaired of, and
my classmates had bought a pine coffin, and
borrowed whole shirts to attend the funeral
in; when the invincible power of your four-
horse-power balsam (which I happened to
have in my vest pocket) suddenly brought
together the scattered pieces of my body—
collected my limbs from the rural districts—
put new life into my shattered frame, and I
was restored, uninjured, to my friends, with a
new set of double teeth. I have preserved
the label which enveloped the bottle, and
have sewed it into the seat of my pantaloons,
and I now bid grim death defiance, for I feel
that I am henceforth unkillable, and in fact I
am even now generally designated the' Great
Western Achilles.'"
Yours, entirely Ski Ht.
I feel that after this Mr. Editor, I need
give you no more reports of third persons,
but will nevertheless detail some of my own
personal experience of the article. I caused
some to be applied to the Washtenaw Bank
after its failure, and while the balsam lasted
the bank redeemed its notes with specie. The
cork of one of the bottles dropped upon the
head of a childless widow, and in six weeks
she had a young and blooming husband. Ad-
ministered some to a hack driver in a glass of
gin and sugar, and that day he swindled but
seven people, and only gave two of them bad
to a friend in Washington, dated
"St. Petersburg Russia, Sept. 18, 1854.
Dear F.—The war is scarcely begun. There
V , is no chauee of any Power, be it ever so great,
of the Mexican artillery keeps company with j to couquer Russia. The Emperor is only pre-
No groan escapes his lips, no cry of agony ! moneJ *n change. Gave a few drops gratis
gratifies the implacable rancor of his enemies; ! *■? a P0(?r. woman who was earning a preca-
he dies and the Alamo has fallen. nous 8ubs>stence by making calico shirts with
I a one-eyed needle, and the next day she was
D^" Extract of a letter from a respectable I discovered to be heir to a large fortune.—
and well informed citizen of the United S'ates j Gave some to an uptown actor, and that night
4 r-v «i 4Vinn/l in W n of> i n frf All /I *i t ilrl L ' 1 It 1 Iff 1 .•
I have gone into the patent medicine business.
My name will be handed down to posterity
as that of a universal benefactor. The hand
which hereafter writes upon the record of j
fame the names of Ayer, Sands, Townsend,
Moffat, Morrison and Brandreth must also in-
scribe, side by side with these distinguished
appellations, the no less brilliant cognomen of
the undying Doesticks. Emulous of the
deathless notoriety which has been acquired
by the medicinal worthies just mentioned, I
also resolved to achieve a name and fortune
in the same reputable and honest manner.—
Bought a gallon of tar, a cake of beeswax
and a firkin of lard, and in twenty-one hours
I presented to the world the first batch of
" Doesticks' Patent-Self-Acting-Four-Horse-
Power Balsam," designed to .cure all diseases
of mind, body or estate, to give strength to
the weak, money to the poor, bread and but-
ter to the hungry, boots to the bare-foot, de-
cency to blackguards, and common sense to
Know Nothings. It acta physically, morally,
mentally, psychologically physiologically and
geologically, and it is intended to make our
sublunary sphere a blissful paradise, to which
heaven itself shall be but a side show.
I have not yet brought it to absolute per-
fection, but even now it acts with immense
force,as you will perceive by the accompany-
ing testimonials and records of my own indi-
vidual experience. You will observe that I
have not resorted to the usual manner of pre-
paring certificates, which is to be certain that
all those intended for Eastern circulation
shall seem to come from some formerly un-
heard of place in the west, while those sent to
the west shall be dated at some place forty
miles east of sunrise. But I send to you, as
representing the Western country, a certifi-
cate from an Oregon farmer:
" Dear Sir—The land composing my ferrn
has hitherto beeu so poor, that a Scotchman
could'nt get a living off it, and so stony that
we had to slice our potatoes and plant them
edgeways; but bearing of your balsam, I put
some on a ten acre lot, surrounded by a rail
fence, and in the morning I found the rocks
had entirely disappeared and, a neat stone
wall encircled the field, and the rails were split
into oven wood and piled up symmetrically in
my back yard. Put half an ounce into the
middle of a huckleberry swamp; in two days
it was cleared off, planted with corn and
pumpkins, and had a row of peach trees in
full bloom through the middle. As an evi-
dence of its tremendous strength, I would
state that it drew a striking likeness of my
oldest daughter—drew my youngest boy out
of the mill pond—drew a blister all over his
stomach—drew a load of patatoea four miles
to market, and eventually drew a prize of
ninety-seven dollars in the State lottery. And
the effect upon the inhabitants hereabout has
been so wonderful that they have opened their
eyes to the good of the country, and are deter-
mined to vote for a Governor who is opposed
to frosts in the middle of June, and who will
make a positive law against freshets, hail
storms and the seventeen year locusts."
There, is'nt that some ? But I give one
more from a member in the senior class in a
Western college, who, although; misguided,
From the New York Mirror.
Furtive Glances.
BY A LADY.
Mrs. X. Y. Z. Sampson is a lady of mam-
moth proportions. She stands six feet in her
slippers, and her circumference is not to be
| Warlike Demonstrations.
j It is believed in certain circles in this
country and Europe, that the Allies are en-
I tertaining sinister designs upon the United
; States. There are, it must be acknowledged,
! some indications of a kind of officious inter-
vention which do not augur very amicable in-
tentions. Retentive memories hold in remcm-
mid-
the minutes as they roll on
faltering among those" brave defenders of the
, morning,
and evening are passed, yet there is no
paring for war. Next year he will have in the
tiehl, ready for active battle, one and a half
millions of soldiers, well drilled. The people
Alamo. Another sun rises and sets, and yet are a'l 'or ''ie war; a"d lie has no trouble in
another; still the indomitable heart of Travis ! soldiers, lor it is with them a religious
" and his companions quail not before the un- I war' JheY want the christian faith to be sanc-
tiriag efforts of their enemy. In spite of °nfa ovef ,he .T ^ t.he,most .dfie"
g ■ , . j. . . ..J oi v<iut people on the earth, and the l *st crucifix
aat_ enemy's vindictivo vigilance, the little ! wi!, F0 ,Jr tbe war before they give up.
garrison receives from Gonzales a reinforce- j ;—
ment of thirty-three men, additional victims ;. 05^ The last society spoken of in California
far the funeral pyre soon to be kindled by San- I ?s "Pay Nothings." It is said to be alarm-
ta Anna, on surrounding hills, as a human
hecatomb to Mexican vengeance.
New batteries are erected by the besiegers;
from every point around the missiles of des- | I?" "When a stranger treats me with want
traction consentrated upon the Alamo. The :of respect/' said a poor philosopher, I comfoit
final how must come. Provisions are not : rayselt with the reflection, that it is not myself
j tie slights, but my old and shabby coat and
1 hat, which to say the truth, have no particular
claim for admiration. So if my hat and coat
! choose to fret about it, let them; but its noth-
ing to me."
■ ...sly prosperous. The password is " lend me !
ia dollar,"—the response, "broke." We fear
; there is a branch being started in this city.
jet exhausted, but the ammunition cannot
last many days longer. Wafer has long been
Supplied solely by the daring efforts of a Mex-
ican woman, who, through shower of grape
and musketry, has treaded the way to and fro
between the river and the citadel while her
own blood has marked the path. She bears
^ritbin her the stern and loft spirit of illus-
QG^Tlie Rev. E. D. G. Prime has gone to
I Rome to take charge of the American Protes-
I tant chapel connected with the American Le-
; gation in that city.
v ' a ~ j r> 7 j vw—
Talma. She makes speeches at temperance . dow coming events. It has not escaped the
meetings; is a fearful Abolitionist; writes remembrance of some, that Lord John Russel,
in his correspondence with our Secretary of
State, net very long ago, assumed a tone and
boys don't steal any more dogs. In fact, so
well content are we now with our city, that j computed by inches. She wears any quanti- brance certain incidents, of not very late
we feel, as the Hibernian poet so beautifully ty ot flounces, and sports a crimson velvet date, which, to thekeen sighted, may foresha
says:
O, if there be an Elysium on earth, _
It is this—it is this. ' political articles for periodicals, and argues
Orders for my balsam, accompanied by the • with every one who approaches her. She is
money, will be immediately attended to ;l frequently seen in exhibition rooms or picture , temper calculated to irritate the sensibilities
otherwise, not; for my partner and I have j galleries, emphasizing her remarks, with the ; of a people thicker skinned than American
resolved to sell for cash only, feeling, as did catalogue, and pointing^ out the beauties of J citizens. The matter and manner of the
; art to a group of admiring gentlemen who j Premier's communication were offensive, and
surround her, and from the midst of whom considered at the time as indicative of an un-
I she rises aloft like a tower of extraordinary
| altitude. Mr. Sampson is rarely seen at
| these times; he is a little man, with a very
! small head and no eyelashes, and an astonished
, expression permanently fixed on his features.
1 He is sean early in the morning sweeping the
Dr. Young, who appropriately and feelingly
remarks—
We take no notes on Time.
Triumphantly yours,
Q. K. Philander Doesticks, P. B. M. D.
Tbe Approaching Crisis.
As the clouds which, for the first few hours
after the conflict, always hang over the field ! door steps, in a very shrunken dress-gown ;
of battle are rolled away, and a feirer and and often, during Mrs. Sampson's" reunions."
clearer view is afforded of the scene which the ; a shrill quaver is heard from the back attic,
issue presents, so it would appear that the j which the neighbors say is " Mr. Sampson
countiy is arriving at a juster conception of! singing to the baby." That unfortunate
the controlling influences in the late elections ; gentleman never appears abroad with his ^
in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana; and can ' wife, excepting when it rains, and some one t ponent of public opinion, admonishes us to be
friendly feeling. Stronger demonstrations
have since been made, and as it seems to us,
for no adequate cause. A short time since
Lord Clarendon, a British Minister, in a speech
in Parliament, distinctly announced that
American policy was at variance with that of
Great Britain, and Europe generally—its
passions feelings and interests; and the Noble
Lord took occasion to use language, not
merely of warning, but bordering on the mena-
cing. And the Times, the semi-official or-
gan of Government, and the most truthful ex-
now appropriate more truthfully the probable
effect which the result of these conflicts is
destined to have upon the future politics of
the nation.
* *******
As we gaze northward, there rises before
our eyes a cloud already much bigger than a
man's hand, and which appears to be sprea-
ding with fearful rapidity over the whole of
that section of the country; it is the black
cloud which casts upon the landscape the
baneful shadow of Sectionalism. A shadow
which blears the vision of all those over whom
it passes, and makes them blind to every ob-
ject without its own black outline. This
spirit of Sectionalism is the only foe that we
have to encounter whose strength need give
us a moment's pause. If, as we fear, it has
seized on the minds of most people of the
North, a terrible and doubtful battle is before
us, in behalf of the Constitution of our com-
mon country, and of our own local rights and
interests; for, the effect of Sectionalism must
inevitably be, to render its disciples utterly
indifferent to all obligations enjoined by the
Constitution.
The evidence of a general and wide spread
determination on the part of the Northern
people, to wage a war against the rights, in-
terests and prosperity of the slave-holding
States, are fearfully numerous, and must be
acknowledged now, by those who were form-
erly most skeptical of their existence. If
the feeling which generates this reckless
hostility towards that portion of the LTnion
which has ever been foremost in its manifes-
tations of reverence for, and obedience to,
the provisions of our common bond of union,
be not soon checked, the most devoted friend
of that Union will very soon be forced into
the admission that its longer existence will
be incompatible with the most eheerished
interests, or the self respect, of the Southern
States of the confederacy. Of course, these
speculations are based on the supposition that
there yet exists at the South some feeling of
State pride, some glow of local patriotism.—
If it be otherwise, and our people are so dead
to every feeling of independence and manly
courage, as to suffer themselves to be absorbed,
after a feint- and reluctant struggle, into the
North, and to become the ready and cringing
slaves to all its arrogant and unreasonable
demands, then the future of the Democratic
party becomes to them a matter of as much
indifference as it is to those who till the sugar
or cotton fields It was surrender to the
North on the points she so unjustly and
wrongftdly urges upon us; the form of Go-
vernment must from that moment be radically
changed, for the present constitution will be
utterly unsuited to the state of things which
will thenceforth prevail. For, instead of
being members of a confederacy of sovereign
States, the South, forgetful of all her past
glories, and of all her dearest rights, will have
become the despised appendage of her relent-
less Northern conquerors,
When will our people awake to a sense of
the real danger which is hovering over them,
by reason of this mad and bigotted sectional-
ism of the North ? Will they rouse them-
selves in time to give it successful battle, or
will they lie supinely until their enemy shall,
with one final spring, rush on them, and stifle
forever all pride, all independence, all vitality ?
—La Courier.
he said " damned " only twenty-one times.
One of the daily papers got the next dose,
and in the next edition but one there were
but four editorial falsehoods, seven indecent
advertisements, and two columns and a half
of home-made " Foreign Correspondence."
Caused fifteen drops to be given to* the low
comedian of a Broadway theatre, and that
night he was positively dressed more like a
man than a monkey, actually spoke some
lines of the author, made only three insane
attempts at peurile witticisms; only twice
went out of his way to introduce some gross-
ly indelicate line into his part, and for a won-
der lost so much of his self-conceit that for a
full half hour lie did not believe himself the
greatest comedian in the world. Gave some
to a newsboy, and he manufactured but three
fires, a couple of murders, and one horrible
railroad, in the next thirty minutes. Put
some on the outside of the Crystal Palace,
and on the same day the stock went from 22
up to 44. Our whole Empire City is entirely
changed by the miraculous power of " Doe-
stick's Patent-Self-Acting-Four-Horse-Power
Balsam." The gas is lighted on the dark
nights instead of on the moonlight evenings,
there are no more highway robberies in the
streets, or if there are, the offenders, when
Rich Men Unawares.
There are thousands of rich men in the world
who think themselves poor. They lament
their hard fete while Fortune has filled their
laps. Such are the dwellers by the side of
new railroads, through countries that do not
enjoy easy access to market. It is amusing
to go along a line of country where a railroad
has just opened and listen to the doleful tales
that are unfailingly told;—how the road ran
right through Mr. A.'s farm, and put him to
the inconvenience of " looking out for the
locomotive" every time his team went to and
from the hay-field; and how Mr. B.'s "inter-
vale,"—the finest pasture-ground in all the
country,—was cut into narrow strips from
one end to the other, to his incalculable det-
riment; how Mr. C-'s garden, that had been
manured to the highest pitch of fertility, was
traversed by the track; and Mr, D.'s finest
grafted pear-tree, that had borne choice fruit
for half a century, was cut down by the
Vandal engineers, as if it had been a worth-
less poplar or a Balm of Gilead; how Mr. E.
had lost two promising Spring calves already,
and Mr. F. had lost a colt, that in 3 years
would have sold for every cent of two hundred
dollars! This is the universal experience, and
everywhere that a railroad goes, it is an un-
mitigated curse in the eyes of the people for
the first years of its operation. But a locomo-
tive along a track soon burns out such oldtime
prejudices. It is not mauy years before the
farmer sees that he gets for the produce that
used to rot in his granery,or never was deemed
profitable enough to raise, a price that asto-
nishes him. The surplus of every crop he
turns into cash. The garden bed that yiel-
ded a peck of vegetables beyond the demands
of his kitchen, he converts directly into money.
The stock that he cannot winter he exchanges
without the trouble of riding to the nearest
town, into hard silver. The tree that shaded
his corn field, which had not been cut down
simply because there was n</ earthly use to
make of it, he measures into cord-wood and
transmutes into luxuries or comforts as he
chooses. He discovers at last that a railroad
dies something more than by building a
wooden depot-house, and furnishing to a
crippled peanut vender employment for his
time. Before he stops growling at the "cursed
railroad " it has quadrupled the value of his
farm, larded all his lean acres, given a price
to what had no sort of value before, and
marked upon every product that can be turned
out on his premises a definity value. We
have conversed with scores j>f such unwitting-
ly wealthy men during a ramble of a week or
two past. There were men whose farms were
hardly worth receiving before as gifts, that
now tell their worth to thousands every day
of the year. There were those who owned
largo tracts of timber, still growling because-
locomotives sometimes set woods on fire, who
have treasures in their forests that they do
not dream of. It is a "day of roads," and it
would not do any harm for some of our sec-
is wanted to carry the umbrella. He splits
pine wood to kindle the fire in the back gar-
den, and takes the milk at the area gate;
and once an inquisitive old lady observed him
slopping some dingy articles up and down in a
bucket of dirty water; and from the fact that
Mr. Sampson's shoulders were enveloped in a
plaid shawl, and his arms uncovered, she sa-
gaciously conjecetured that Mr. S. was " get-
up his linen."
Mrs. Sampson devotes herself principally
to abolitionism. She informs her friends
that were she again a girl, " color" would
be no objection to the man of her choice.—
She once collected a contribution amounting
to several hundred dollars for an intelligent
negro, who represented himself as a runaway
slave, but who was afterwards discovered to
have been a peaceable resident of New York
from his natal hour, and to have supported
himselfby "white-washing and wall coloring,"
and who had furthermore added an involun-
tary contribution from Mrs. Sampson in the
shape of her watch and teaspoons. Mrs.
Sampson frequently electrifies her audiences
by descriptions of the fearful cruelty of a
southern planter, who for the most trivial of-
fences murders his .slaves, and subsequently
banquets upon them; and the maternal por-
tion of tbe aforesaid audience have been af-
fected even to tears, by the feet being men-
tioned, that " hashed picaninny" is a favor-
ite dish throughout the Southern States.
Mrs. Sampson is reported to have horse-
whipped three editors for mentioning her aa
a "female," in a paragraph which went tbe
rounds of the papers; and Mr. Smith of
the "Pumkinfille Gazette," trembles for bis
life ever since he delicately hinted that " he
did not approve of women speaking in pub-
lic."
If you are not acquainted with Mrs. Samp-
son, you will recognize her by an excessively
loud voice; by her always being attended
during her promenades by some half-dozen
gentlemen, each vieing with the other
for the honor of carrying her fen or parasol,
and by an indiscribable flutter and rustle of
satin and velvet, which says plainly "iJehold,
ye, no common person approaches; room for
Mrs. X. Y. 55. Sampson I" v
cautious, fest by pushing our annexing^ pro-
pensities too far, we may give occasion to
Great Britain to interpose and arrest our ambi-
tious career, in the words of the London
Morning Herald, "We Yankees are to be
kept in our shell."
The French press are not a bit more amiable.
The Moniteur alludes to the appointment of a
French officer of well known energy (Admiral
Hernoux) to the command of the French Naval
Division of the Allies, who is to have an
accession of a considerable naval force from
the late fleet in tbe Baltic. The English are
likewise adding large reinforcements to their
West India Squadron, which, in a short time,
will number three large screw ships, and four
large sailing vessels, mounting in all 335
guns.
But notwithstanding all this show of fight,
we think that little apprehension is to be enter-
tained of any immediate collision with either
or both these powers. They have both too
much to do at home; and there is too strong
an antipathy among the people to go to war
with this country, however disposed the go-
vernment may be. We shall be watched
closely—"kept within our shell," and in
carrying out our proclivities to annexation,
they will tell us, " thus far shall yon go and
no further."—Ex.
France and the United States.
The usually intelligent Paris correspondent
of the Cincinnati Gazette, after alluding to
the Soule affair, writes in connection with it
as follows:
Tnere are Americans at Paris whose judg-
ments are worthy of consideration, who con-
tend, looking at every feature of the case,
that a war with France at this moment would
prove morally and materially advantageous to
the people of the United States. They be-
lieve that such war would prove the most
speedy and efficacious means of healing up
and firmly cementing the political and social
dissensions which so seriously divide the
country, cripple its united energies, and
threaten its ruin. They know that it would
entirely cut off the annual flow of two hun-
dred millions of dollars into France from the
United States, for Lyons silk, Paris perfume-
ry, French cloths, cogniac brandies and
French wines, and thus not only save a great
proportion of this enormous sum of money,
but compel herself te develope her internal
resources, to become a manufacturing as well
as an agricultural people, and to be thus bet-
ter prepared to resist warlike attacks in the
future. They believe that, from the enor-
mous strength of France at this moment, on
sea and land, and from our own want of
armed organization, our seaboard towns and
cities would be destroyed in the commence-
ment of the war, but our superior resources
would, in the end, enable us to come off con-
querors. With my own inclinations in favor
of the peace policy as the policy for the
American government to follow, I have been
surprised at the number of influential and so-
ber men, of all parties, who have since the
occurrence of the late difficulty, expressed an
indifference in regard to the results which
may grow out of it.
It is believed that England, feeling serious-
ly the rivalry which is growing up in France
and the United States, to her own commer-
cial interests, is strongly urging France to
put a check upon the growing and meddle-
some ambition of the American States, pledg-
ing, what she never intends to give, her sup-
port in case of necessity. She, in' the mean-
time, will occupy the position which Prussia
now does; she will stand neutral, act as the
carrying agent between the two belligerents,
and form a kind of toll-gate to pick up the
loose change of both parties, and thus secure
for a while longer her commercial supremacy.
We have heard sentiments somewhat like
the above uttered in our own city in connec-
tion with the Soule case and the drain of spe-
cie to the continent of Europe, but hardly
supposed they were but an echo of the opin-
ions of Americans in France.
What a Picture.—We clip the following
from the local column of the Wheeling Times
of Friday :
" Two persons came out of one tavern, on
Wednesday, with the mania-a-potu, raving
mad; three Irishmen lay dead at the same
time in one house, while twenty drunken men
and women were dancing and howling round
their bodies; at ttie same time, too, the Clerk
of the Circuit Court was issuing fourteen writs
of mandamus on the Clerk of the City, by order
of tbe Judge of the Court, to inquire why the
saiil Clerk did not issue a licence to fourteen
persons to sell liquor."
[[^"The national debt of Great Britain is
about four thousand millions of dollars being
two hundred dollars for each man, woman and
child in the kingdom. The national expendi-
ture for this year is three bundled and twenty
millions of dollars. The expenses of the East-
ern war has so far, been paid by the Exchequer
Bills and increased taxation, hut doubts are ex-
pressed about {jetting along much longer with-
out increasing the Public Debt. Our little
debt of forty or fifty millions contrasts moat fav-
orable with tiie enormous debt of our old moth-
er, and the best of all is that wo are rapidly re-
deeming our debt at a high premium, while
she must greatly increase hers, without the
least hope of everpayiugit.— Rockingham Reg-
ister.
Important Fact.—It has been discovered
in Western Texas that common lamp black
ular preachers to thunder it in their ears, lest will destroy worms in live stock, and heal the
they die thinking themselves poor, while their
heirs will take fat legacies from their de^th-
clenched hand?.
-•= Cuba.
The Mobile Register close* an editorial by
the annexed pertinent remarks:
, " Jn regard to Cuba, this country must look
in a paragraph which went the -dggtiny in the face, and dimiasing timid coun-
sels march up to its requirements. *The whole
question is in a nutshell, and these proposi-
tions are self-evident, and meet the approba-
tion of all Americans. 1st.: Spain cannot
long retain her authority over the Island.—
2d.: The United States, with one voice, in
which all men of all parties have united has
declared that no other European power, and
especially no great maritime power like Eng-
land or France, shall command the gate and
hold the key which opens upon the great
highway of our domestic trade; and 3d.: As
a consequence of the two first propositions,
the United States must command it. The
first is true; on the second, this coutrtvy wifi
to a man, fight; and why should the third not
be accepted, when Spain is doing all she can
by insult and outrage, not only to pave the
way by giving us all the pretexts and excuses
which can' justify a nation, but is absolutely
forcing us to take hostile steps which must
inevitably result in breaking her iron sceptre
in Cuba, and passing that beautiful American
Island and that oppressed people to the
fructifying shadow and protection of the Stars
and Stripes. The Time to pluck fruit is when
it is ripe. The Cuban fruit has grown rich
and yellow in its golden maturity under the
great events of the last twelve months. We
believe the time has come to gather and house
it-. f. - -*
A Venezuela Execution. .
The Caracas correspondent of N. Y. Her-
ald, under date of Oct. 26, gives tho follow-
ing :
On the morning of the 21st, our city was
the theatre of one of the most atrocious and
horrible executions that ever disgraced hu-
manity. The victim was Col. Vasquez, who
was wounded in the knee in the battle allu-
ded to that had crippled him for life, and ta-
ken prisoner in the engagement of San Car-
los—his life having, been spared on that oc-
casion by General Silva, who sent him to this
city, thinking that his life might be spared
by Monagas. The death of Gen. Rodrignez,
the chief" of the revolutionary party, by the
escort that was conducting him a prisoner to
the capital, might have prevented him from
forming such an erroneous conclusion—the
more so that he knew that Simon Planas,
the Minister of this Government, had private
vengeance to wreak on the poor victim, and
he must have known this Planas was not
the man to let such an opportunity escape.
On Sunday morning Vasquez was put to
death in the yard adjoining the prison. It is
said that from the time he received his first
wound till he was finally despatched, more
than one hour elapsed. His cries and sup-
plications to be put out of his agony were said
to be heart-rending, and when at length
death put an end to his torture, the body was
carried by a party of soldiers out side of the
city and buried like a dog. While carrying
the body through the streets several citizens
begged that it might be given to them, to re-
ceive a christian burial. On being refused,
they requested permission to put the body in
a coffin, but that was also denied them.
The government put a report in circula-
tion that Vasquez intended to make his es-
cape from prison.
You will observe in looking over the col-
umns of the Diario de Arisas, that no men-
tion is made of the murder of Varquez, the
editor not daring, I presume, to give the af-
fair a place in his paper.
Bad Boy.—In Baltimore a countryman
was passing down North street, with his wag-
on, when one of his wheels came off and he
discovered that the lynch-pin was gone. After
searching for it some time, he offered the
boys who congregated a shilling to whoever
would find it. They joined in the search,
and in a few moments one ofthe boys brought
him what he supposed to be the pin. ^ Having
adjusted the wheel, he paid the shilling and
started off, but had not gone more than half
a block, before the wheel on the other side
came off, and he found one of the rascals had
stolen the pin from one of the other wheels to
obtain the reward.
Wei-ls on the Desert.—The Sacra-
mento Union refers to a resolution passed by
the last Legislature, requesting our •represen-
tatives in Congress to obtain au appropriation
for the construction of wells on the Humboldt
Desert.
It is said that out of 8839 cattle, which
were driven by the Reckwith route this sea-
son, only 1910 reached the State ali/e, most
of the loss being caused by the alkaline wa-
ters on the Desert.
Two Houses Buu/r from one Tree.—
The Humboldt (Cal.) Times tells of a tree in
that country which furnished lumber enough
to build two two-story houses, each fifty feet
wounds as "readily as calomel. It is cheaper square, furnishing all the timber, plank,
and less dangerous. Use it freely in the j boards and shingles, necessary for the pur-
same manner calomel is used.— Gal. Com. 'pose.
Death of Col. D. J. Woodllef.
We find a paragraph in the New Orleans
Picayune of late date, giving the particulars
of a duel which recently took place in Cali-
fornia, resulting in the death of Col. D. J.
Woodlief. The Picayune condenses itsstate-
mcnt of the particulars of this melancholy
affair from the San Francisco Herald, of the
9th ult., 60 they must, of course, be substan-
tially correct. The following is the Picayune's
paragraph:
A duel was fought on the 8th of November
between Col. D. J. Woodlief and Achilies
Kewen, about ten miles from Oakland.—
About one hundred and fifty persons were as-
sembled as spectators of the encounter. The
parties fought with Mississippi rifles, at forty
paces—placed back to back and to wheel luid
fire. At the first discharge, Col. D. C. Wood-
lief fell, shot through the hart, and died
instantaneously. He was shot through and
through, and was dead almost as soon as he
{touched the earth. Mr. Kewen was unhbrt.
i Col. Woodlief was well known to nearly
j every old Texian; particularly, such as bora
! arms in our revolutionary struggle. He wai
a participant in the Fall campaign of 1835,
and was present during the memorable sie?e
of San Antonio, which terminated in the
capitulation of the Mexican General, Cos, and
the surrender of the entire Mexican tbrco
under his command, in December, 183a.—
Again he hurried to the standard of Texau
Independence, in the Spring of 1808, aii4*~
did active and gallant service on tbe plains of
San Jacinto, in the brief, but desperate skir-
mish of the 20th of April. The great decisive
battle, the results of which are too weu known
to need recounting in this short artide, was
fought on the following day; but Col. Wood-
lief, having been severely wounded Muthe <
fierce melee on the 20th, was prevented from
participating in that glorious affair. After
recovering from his wound, he was, for a short,
time, placed in command of the temporary
military post at Velasco, and had charge of
the distinguished prisoners of war—the Mexi-
can President General, Santa Anna, and
staff. After the Summer of 1636, he had no
connection with the millitary operations of
Texas, until the memorable Cbuokee War,
in the Summer of 1839; in whicb be des-
played the most admirable intrepidity to charg-
ing die enemy at the head of his gallant squa-
dron of mounted volunteers. None who were
present on that sanguinary field of fight, will
ever forget the reckless impetuosity of that
brilliant and effective charge, or the utter con-
tempt for death there ejhibi ted by the chivalric
Col. Deveraux J. Woodlief. At a later
period, he was found in the ranks of his coun-
trymen, doing gallant and efficient service
under the broad banner of the stars andstri-
pes, in the late Mexico War. At the close*
of that war, be mingled in the eager throng
thut was then, as it were, in a continual nub
for the land of gold. He remained perma-
nently in California, until his eventftd life
was unhappily terminated as above stated-
In closing this brief notice of the late Col
Woodlief, it may not be improper to remark,
that, though he had enemies, those who knew
him longest and most intimately, were his
warmost admirers and most devoted friends.
None who really knew him, cauld doubt hia.
honor; none, who had ever seen him on the
" field of carnage," could fail to admire hi&
indomitable prowess.—Gal. News %
Serious Mesmeric Experiment.—-In
New York on Saiuiday week, says the Cour-
ier and Enquirer, George Farland, of No. 125
"ilst street, and Dr. Hoffman, of No. «?>: Suf-
folk street, professors of the mesmeric art,
called at No,. 130 Church street, for the pur-
pose of experimenting. Amanda, a girl
boarding at the house, had previously been
put in a mesmeric state by Farland, but eas-
ily awakened, and she became the subject
upon this occassion. Farland put her to
sleep, and then requested Dr.
add his mesmeric influence, which he did
by pressing her hand and blowing into her
ear. This took place at 4 p. M., and. af-
ter the parties were satisfied with the-.t^st,
they tried to awake the girl; but, to their as-
tonishment, it seemed a thing impossible.—
She lay like a dead person, and after an
unsuccessful effort of two hours duration, tber
experimenters sent for Dr. Hallock, but he
also failed to restore the victim. In the
meantime the Fifth Ward police were in-
formed of the fearful state of affairs, and
took the mesmerisers into custody. Dr.
Eager was sent for by the police, and Alder-
man Hoffmire was also brought to witness
the grand magnetic finale. Dr. E., after ad-
ministering come remedies, succeeded in re-
storing Amanda to consciousness, after a
slumber of nearly eight hours, and much to
the relief of the parties under arrest. The
prisoners were taken to the station bouse,
and detained to await the result, but after
the Alderman was assured that their viotim
was entirely restored, he opened a courtj and
discharged them from custody.
A New Issue in the Mrs. Robinson
Case.— Tho Syracuse (N. Y.) Star, men-
tions a new and interesting issue in the ease
of Mrs. Robinson, the murderess, now incar-
ceratea in the Troy jail. She has presented
somebody with a baby, and the circumstances
is rendered intensely interesting from the feet
that she has been in jail over a year.
Fine Stock.—Major David Murphree, of
DeWitt county, who by the way, has one of
the prettiest plantations in the West, and se-
veral superior hedges of the native Ouisat-
chie, has 15 of the largest Jennets in tbe
State, and a monster Jack, a perfect model
of bone and sinew, and proposes to furnish
stock growers with animals from this approved
breed. He is doing much to improve this
species of stock in that section of the State,
and we wish him every success.
The fine horse Stratford, the property of J.
R. North, of DeWitt, is losing his sight at
the age of eight years. Mr. N. has a luge
number of fine blooded horses grown -on his
plantation.—Galveston Commercial.
Some Snake.—Georgia is some State for
snakes, as will appear from the following
which we clip from the Americus (Ga.) Nevus:
Oglethorpe, Nov. 2,1854.
Messrs. Editors—Novelty being of impor-
tance to editors, I will give you a rattlesnake
story for publication.
Captured by Theodore Mantferd and bro-
ther, and myself, a rattle-snake measuring 87
inches in length and 13 inches in circumfer-
ence, supposed to be 164 years old. The febove
snake was captured about ten miles south-
east of Isabella, Worth county, while we
were on a deer hunt. The skin is at my store
in this place. H. H. Brown.,
Only think of a rattle-snake seven feetlomg
—nine inches longer than Col. Dorsey of the
Wetumpka Dispatch—and thirteen inches in
circumference.'—Aberdeen (Miss.) Democrat.
Mental and Corporeal Suffering.—
There is a very pretty Persian apologue on
the difference between mental and corporeal
suffering. A king and his minister were dis-
cussing the subject, and differed in opinion.
The minister maintained die first to be more
severe, and to oonvince his sovereign of it,
he took a lamb, broke its leg, shut it up, and
put food before it. He took another, shut it
up with a tiger, which was bound by a strong
ehain, so that the beast could spring near,
but not seise the lamb, and put food also be-
fore him. In the morning he carried the
kiug to see the effect of the experiment. Tbe
lamb with the brokcu leg had eaten up all the
food before him—the other was found d*d
from fright.
m
wi.-
m
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Ford, John S. The Texas State Times (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 4, Ed. 1 Saturday, December 23, 1854, newspaper, December 23, 1854; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth235740/m1/1/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.