Newspaper Page Text
Man's Jnhninanity.
i [New Orleans Democrat.]
Some days ago information was received
that in a house near Broad street there was
I a. girl chained hand and foot, and had been
I fox some three months, and in pursuance of
this the reporter started on his quest accom
panied by Judge Southworth and A. DeFon
blanque, the British consul at this port, who
volunteered out of pure humanity.
The reporter got out of the Canal
street cars at Dorgenois street, and
going up that stopped at the corner of Pal
myra to look for the habitation wherein it
was said that the girl had been confined.
On Palmyra, two doors from Dorgenois
street, it stood. From a hasty glance at its
exterior and surroundings, it might have
been taken for one of Quilp's retreats. It
was a dilapidated one-story house containing
two rooms, standing back a short distance
from the street. The front door was found
to be locked, but a window adjoining was
easily opened, and through it an entrance was
gained to the house. While the party were
endeavoring to get admission into the back
room, the proprietor appeared, and, on being
informed of the mission, opened the front
door. The front room bore out the impres
sions formed from a view of the outside. In
confusion around were the remnants of what
had once been a set of mahogany furniture.
The whole room looked like some store-room
of a Krook who went off in Bleak House in a
blaze of spontaneous combustion.
Passing through this the door to the other
room was opened. The party started to en
ter it, but instinctively drew back. A stench
such as only can once be smelled drove them
back. The fetid odor of
THE OHABNEL HOUSE,
with an addition of a forgotten vault, could
only approach it. It was sickening, and the
party could only endure it after a side win
dow had been opened and a partial ventila
tion obtained. The proprietor ushered them
in. He was a man of about sixty-five years,
with hair of light gray and a face that
seemed to have lost every trace of the softer
lines. Bright gray eyes threw out now and
then flashes of light that soon faded
away, whilst nervous, tremulous lips
betrayed much excitement and emo
tion. He said his name was Samuel Barnes,
and he had at one time been a prosperous
merchant on Poydras street. He had two
sons, one Charles R., and the other Alfred S.
Barnes. When questioned he made a state
ment in which he frequently contradicted
himself. He said his daughter was thirty
one years of age, and had been crazy for
some time. About three months ago he
went to the city insane asylum and found
that she was well and took her out. After
he had taken her out she used to go to mar
ket with him and help him at his vegetable
stand at Poydras market, but he found he
would have
TO CHAIN HEB.
So he went to the asylum andjborrowed a
pair of handcuffs, and chained her in the
room to cure her. He couldn't exactly
state how long she had been so chained. At
one time he said it was only a month, and at
another it was five months since he borrow
ed the handcuffs. When asked who cared
for her he said he did. He went to market
very early in the morning, and it was some
times 3 o'clock in the afternoon when lie got
home. During this time she was chained
up in her room, with no ventilation but a
half opened window, and without a soul
near her. When questioned about the
raises on her back he said she must haye
gotten them by falling down on the floor.
He ne\er had whipped heronly kept her
cliained.
The reporter, after light had been admit
ted into the room, in company with Mr. De
Ponblanque and Judge Southworth, exam
ined the surroundings. In the far corner,
firmly nailed against the wall, was a small
wooden bench about four and one-half feet
in length and very narrow. From a hole in
the wall hung a chain not more than three
feet in length, which would allow the pris
oner to stand upright, but not to lie on the
floor. About eight feet from the bench was
an old mahogany bed, on which was piled a
mass of
PUTBEFXING BAGS
and an old mattress. Here within a circle
of three feet had this unfortunate girl passed
the last three months, naked and without
anything to lie on, and if she had had it
without the power to reach it.
While the party were examining the room
so great was the stench they had to with
draw to the open air, the lungs not being
able to stand the noisome effluvia that came
from the rags and floor. On the ceiling
there were broad splashes of filth as high as
a man's head and covering a space ten feet
square. The room had been washed by the
father that morning, as he said he wanted to
clean it up after the girl had been carried
back to the insane asylum, but all of his
labors had been ineffectual in removing the
results of the girl's long confinement.
The way that the condition of this girl
was discovered was this: A Mrs. Grimes
happened to notice that no one had been
coming in or going out of the house for days.
She went to the house, and
no one answering her calls to open
the gate she entered, but could gain no en
trance into the house. Passing along the
side gallery she managed to open aside shut
ter, and then a sight greeted her eyes that
caused her to step back in horror. Stand
ing like a statue on the floor, in manacles,
nude as when first born, was Sarah Barnes.
The chain that bound her was stretched its
full length, but would let the terrible figure
go no further. The face was not visible.
AUJ THAT GOULD BE SEEN
were two vacant eyes and the mouth. All the
features, everything that would show the
form to be that of a human creature, were
hidden in a mask of filth. Her hair was
matted and stood out on end, while over her
body the vermin leisurely crawled. At that
time there was nothing in the room but a
wash tub, but later it seems the father had
moved an old bed in to give a semblance of
comfort to the apartment, as thus it was
found when the reporter visited the place.
Mrs. Grimes calledin a police officer and then
with her own hands prepared the girl
with a covering so that she was fit to be
seen. She was taken to the insane asylutn
and cared for. Thither, in order to gain the
full particulars, the reporter went, After
the, party had entered the gate of the asy
lum they were met by Capt. Monnier and his
assistant, Henry Hamilton, who willingly
escorted them through the building, al
though the hour was quite late., Sarah
Barnes was asked for, and, after 'passing
down the broad gallery the female depart
ment was entered, and in a clean and well-
kept cell she was found, standing, as de
scribed by the ladies who had first
seen her, with her eyes closed,
whilst on her countenance there was a most
placid expression. The keepers approached
her tenderly and called her by name, without
getting any response. Perfectly immovable
she stood, her face pale and without expres
sion, whilst her limbs seemed to be barely
able to support her. She was, both in figure
and face, what, under other circumstances,
would have been a beautiful woman, but
long suffering had wrought
TERRIBLE CHANGES.
The reporter approached her and called
her by name, bat there was still no response.
Mr. De Fonblanque then, to touch some key
that might vibrate in her memory, called the
name of Mrs. Grimes. There was a relaxation
of the muscles, a softening of the lines of
the face, and something like vitality began
to show itself. The expression of the face
was for a moment almost beatific, and when
she was asked whether she wanted to go
home, from her pale lips, in a musical, low
undertone, she uttered the words: "No
don't take me where I'll be covered with
vermin. Don't!"
She relapsed into her former state, and
so remained for some time, but after repeat
ed calls she revived, and when asked again
what was the matter, feebly responded:
"Evil will always conquer." A deathly
palor then overspread her face and
she looked the picture of death itself: but
she soon recovered enough to be led away.
The assistants at the asylum, when asked
about Sarah, said that (when her father had
taken her away) she was as healthy a looking
girl as could be seen. She was fat and hearty,
and could converse rationally on any subject.
So kindly were her feelings toward the
keepers and mates of the asylum
it was her habit every Sunday to visit there
and bring fruit and cakes to her late unfor
tunate companions. She repeated these visits
frequently, and seemed to enjoy the delight
of the unfortunates at her presents.
Capt. Monnier stated that she was perfect
ly rational during these visits, and he thought
she would never again become an inmate of
the institution.
A Man W ho Was Hanged.
[St. Louis Bepulican.]
A gray-haired and decrepit prisoner ar
rived here from the West Thursday night in
charge of Detective B. A. Eincade, of Olney.
111., and J. Stone, ex-Sheriff of Putnam
county, Ind. The old man was lodged in
our city jail, and last evening he resumed his
journey toward Perryville, Boyle county,
where he is wanted for having murdered an
old and helpless lady in cold blood on the
night of the 12th day of April, twelve years
ago.
In 1866 John Taylor lived near Danville,
Ey., and enjoyed the luxuries of good health,
little care, a fair means of living, and a large
family. His son, William Taylor, was in
dicted by the grand jury of Boyle county for
robbing a country dwelling and stealing some
goods. One of the principal witnesses in his
case was Mrs. Mary Bolton, a widow, who
lived in a farm-house, with no other com
panion than a little granddaughter. On the
morning of the 13th of April, that year, the
old lady was found dead in her bed, with a
bullet hole in her head and the bedclothes
drenched with blood. At first the horror
leemed likely to remain a mystery, till the
ittle granddaughter, whom fright for a long
time rendered mute, said that she awoke
about 12 o'clock the night before, and saw
two men in the room whom she readily
recognized as John Taylor and his son Wil
liam. She knew their presence meant mis
chief, and she quietly covered herself up
with the bedclothes. She heard the rifle shot
that killed her grandmother, but was
paralyzed, and so gave no sign. The men
did not discover her.
At once the father and son were placed
under arrest. The prisoners were forcibly
taken from the officers, carried to the woods,
and hung to a tree. The crowd remained
only long enough to complete their work, as
they supposed. By some agencypossibly
through a defect in the ropethe old man
was allowed to fall to the ground shortly
after the mob left, and there he lay for
several hours. He finally recovered the use
of his limbs, but not of his mind, and went
a wandering. He was recaptured and es
caped. He made for Illinois and found
safety in the swamps of Egypt for nearly a
year. Thence he went to Cooper county,
Mo., thence to Kansas, thence back to south
west Missouri, thence to Burbane county,
Eas., thence to Vernon county ,Mo., where he
made his final settlement, near the town of
Nevada, Vernon county. At each of the
above places he spent a year or two, leading
the wretched life of a squatter, but at the
last place he met with some success in tilling
a patch of ground. There he was detected.
He has a daughter living(in Kentucky, and
five sons-in-law, Home of whom live in Mis
souri.
A Donblin Disaster.
A telegram from Dublin, April 28 Bays
On Saturday afternoon a most disastrous
boiler explosion occurred in Mr. Strong's
foundry, Hammond Lane, at the rear of the
Four Courts, by which a number of lives
were lost and a large number of persons
seriously injured. The foundry and iron
works of Mr. Strong are situated in a narrow
thoroughfare, and are surrounded by tene
ment houses of the poorest class. The boil
er, which was used for the purpose of
driving powerful machinery, was a very
large one. The greater number of workmen
had fortunately gone to dinner when the
catastrophe occurred. The boiler exploded
with a great roar, and was shattered into
fragments, one end of it being imbeded in a
house on the opposite side of the street, and
portions of it crashed through the roofs of
adjoining buildings. The part of the foun
dry in which the boiler was placed was com
pletely demolished while a public and two
tenement houses which stood beside it
were also blown into the air, carry
ing with them nearly twenty
persons, including several womenand young
children. A large number of other houses
in the street were shattered, and some of the
occupants injured. Stones, slates, etc,
were hurled a great height into the air and
some of them fell into the yards of the Four
Courts, and the greatest consternation pre
vailed in the district, as other houses in
which there were many tenants, threatened
to fall, and the inhabitants fled in terror.
The news of the calamity spread rapidly,
and the streets adjoining weresoon crowded,
many of those present being relatives of the
unfortunate people who were buried beneath
the mass of masonry, furniture, and ma
chinery. The scenes witnessed were heart-
^y^w^t WI^.I-HJ wjj^wi" "*5WTWSW JnJfW'TfV^1
rending, as mothers, wives, and children
came wildly in search of lost ones. Several
priests from an adjoining chapel directed
the people what to db. About a hundred at
once set to work removing the debris, in or
der to extricate the sufferers if possible.
This was attended with great risk and
difficulty, and at one time fire broke out.
The arrival of the fire brigade, however, put
an end to all fears of that kind. Both the
people and the firemen worked with great
courage and energy. The lord mayor and a
large force of police arrived twenty minutes
after the explosion. The police found great
difficulty in restraining the relatives, and
when the first mutilated body was recovered
the excitement was intense. The remains
were so blackened and bruised that
they could not at first be identi
fied, and as they were driven away
the hospital a large number' of people
rushed after them. These scenes were re
peated as body after body was brought to
thesurface. The narrownessof the thorough
fare greatly impeded the work. The crowds
were in great danger, owing to the tottering
state of the adjoining buildings, and it was
found necessary to send for soldiers to assist
the police. A detachment of the 73d High
landers quickly responded to the summons
of the lord mayor, and they rapidly set to
work on the'ruins with hatchets and pick
axes. Several workers were injured by fall
ing materials, and others were overcome by
their exertions and the suffocating clouds of
lime. Others quickly took their places,
cheered on by the spectators. Several hours
elapsed before the victims were reached, and
it was not until late in the evening that
what was supposed to be the last body had
been recovered. Many of them were in a
frightful condition, and some of them, al
though alive when the work of excavation
began, and able to cry for help, were dead
before they could be recovered. In
the case of one poor man, he was partially
extricated alive and the men were busily at
work trying to extricate the lower part of
his body when they were obliged to desist,
owing to the falling of a wall beneath the
ruins of which the poor, fellow was buried
the owner of the public house, a person
named Duffy, and his daughter were killed
The latter was taken out alive, but died soon
afterward. Four others were dead when dis
covered. A large number are in the hospital
suffering from broken limbs, fractured ribs,
etc. It is feared the wounds, in several
cases, will prove fatal. The partition wall
of the adjoining house was blown away,
leaving all the apartments exposed. There
were several persons in the rooms, and, as
the staircase was carried away, they were
rescued with great difficulty. Some of them
were injured, and one fell with the wall.
There were several persons drinking in the
public-house when the explosion occurred.
Five more dead bodies were recovered to
day, making thirteen in all, and three per
sons arestill missing, and are supposed to
be in the ruins. Ten are in hospital, eight
of whom are so seriously injured that they
are not expected to recover. The total num
ber of killed and injured is about fifty. Ex
cavating parties worked all last night, and
to-day the district is in a great state of ex
citement, most of the people have remained
up all night. The preists rendered much
service in directing the relief parties. As the
excavators came upon one of the unfortunate
men he could only be reached through a
hole, and through this aperture the priest
put hishand andanointed him. Dr. O'Leary,
M. I\, who was present, also administered
some whisky. The man was subsequently
got ont alive, and none the worse save for
the fright. He turned out to be Mr. Duff's
cellar-man, and was in the cellar at the time,
and was only reached by making a hole in
the wall of an adjoining house. His few
hours' confinement made him look almost
twice his real age.
The Negro Astronomer.
[Washington Cor. Telegraph and Messenger.]
I have seen and heard him. I mean the
Rev. John Jasper, of Richmond, who has
been kicking up such a row among his folks
down there. He spread himself Monday
night, at Lincoln Hall. John is well set up,
coal black, about six feet high, well built,
partly bald, and sports beard and moustache.
He was dressed in black, with a white cravat.
Age somewhere in the neighborhood of forty
five.. He has a good delivery and fair voice,
which runs at times into the sing
song jes, ah! and no, ah! He commenced
he seivices by lining out a few verses of a
hymn, in which he requested all present to
join, after which he plunged intohis subject,
commencing with the remark that he had
never been to school in his life, and nobody
need expect any grammar from him. What
he was he had "arrove" at by "de grace of
God," and he had come to prove that "de
sun do move," and that "I will do befo I lef
you." John then tackled the battle wherein
Joshua was told to command the sun to
stand still. "If," said he, "de sun don't
move, what was tre use of Joshua
commanding it to stand still? Why
didn't he tell the earth to stand still,
if that was- the one that moved?" Our
fathers believed in the bible, and, he said, we
should accept their belief. The bible is
recognized throughout the land. Every
witness in court is sworn upon it to tell the
truth. It is a divinely inspired volume, and
to be believed above all other books, or
the words and scientific doctrines of all
men. "Turn to the Psalms," said the lec
turer, "and you will find, 'From the rising
of the sun to the going down of the same the
Lord's name be praised.' If the sun don't
have to move, to rise and go down, why,
then, I'm mightily mistaken. You will ad
mit that Solomon was a wise man, a cultured
gentleman, and a Christian. Now, he says
in Ecclesiastics, 1st chapter and 5th verses
'The sun also ariseth and the 'sun goeth
down, and hasteth to his place where he
arose.' I don't know any grammar, but I
know that while teaching your children in
your grammar schools, when you come
to the word arise you tell 'em it means
to get up. not to lie down. Yon also tell
em that to go down is a movin' action,
am sho' no one will say that hasteth don't
mean movin'. Therefore, takin' that verse
from Solomon, and de meanin' of de words
in it, if de sun dont move then my name
ain't Jasper" (triumphantly). He quoted a
number of similar passages from the Old
Testament, always concluding with 'there
fore the sun do move." If the earth tarns
around, then all the people, the houses, the
rivers, the creeks, the trees, the lakes, and
the surrounding territory would be mixed up
!i*^ lymyi*l'&Wv',{
'JigO^* "9 V''Jiy
a
we can hold on to the earth,
like the fly on the ceiling. The sun do
move and not the earth. When the angel
sounded his trumpet and the earth moved
we would all know it, and that sound would
be unwelcome to lots of us."
The lecturer was well received, and was
frequently greeted with shouts of laughter
and hearty applause, especially when he
wound up a syllogism with "therefore the
sun do move." One of the audience asked
him at the close of the lecture how the aun
got back to its starting point after rising in
the east and setting in the west. He said
he hasted back, for the bible said: "The
sun goeth down and hasteneth to the place
where he arose!"
Dothegirla Hall.
In the pages of the Christian World, an
English religious paper, and similar journals,
there lately appeared an advertisment set
ting forth the many merits of a certain school
for young ladies. The bait tempted several
to write for the prospectus, and, in one in
stance at least, a lady was induced to see the
proprietress, with a view to placing a daugh
ter in the establishment as "governess-stu-
dent." What followed is told by the London
World: Before quoting from the prospec
tus, it may at once be said that the terms
were arranged the explanation as to the
"college" not being then quite prepared for
habitation, being in process for redecoration,
was satisfactory, and on the 19th of Febru
ary last the young lady duly entered
on the engagement. From the pro
spectus before us we learn that principal
of "The College. Mount Pleasant, Snnbury-
on-Thames," is, or rather was, Mrs. Pate.
The principal "is assisted by six resident
English and foreign governesses and an effi
cient staff of masters." The terms indicate
that the scholars belong to the fairly well to
do middle class, ranging from forty guineas
per annum for young ladies over 15 years of
age to thirty guineas for those younger.
Governess students, i. e., pupils who give so
many hours weekly to assist in the tuition of
juniors, are chargedfrom twenty-five guineas
for the first year to fifteen for the third.
'The college is delightfully situated.
The ground consists of nearly seven acres of
garden and pasture land, affording ample
space for out-door recreations. It contains
hot and cold baths. A pony kept
to ride or drive, Home-baked
bread: a plentiful supply of milk: diet un
limited, and of the best quality."
At the commencement of the term, in
February last, the young ladies duly assem
bled to spend a joyous period in this scho
lastic paradise at Sunbury. A few, fresh
from cheerful homes, were somewhat dis
concerted at the baldness of the mansion, at
its forsaken look without and barreness with
in but these girlish quibbles were quickly
scattered by the principal's assurance that as
soon as the plasterers were out and fresh
domestics were in, and the school furniture
arrived, everything would be perfection.
Meantime a considerable number, if not all,
the term-fees of the young ladies had been
paid in advance. So anxious, however, was
the principal to hasten thecompletion of the
domestic comfort, that she negotiated loans
with her juvenile clients. Certain it is that
the principal borrowedbeing temporarily
short of ready cashsundry sums from each
girl's pocket money, soaring as high as 28
shillings in the case of a moneyed govern
ess-student, yet condescending to accept an
humble shilling from a girl barely in her
teens. These transactions were conducted
in strict privacy, until circumstances occur
red rendering mutual confidences inevitable.
One soi-disant "foreign governess" there
was, but then her chief duties were per
formed in the capacity of kitchen domestic.
The tuition resolved itself into mutual in
atruction by the pupils themselves but this
concerned their happy souls far less than
certain statements in the prospectus. It
was true that the grounds were excellent for
creating an appetite, but there grew a dole
ful doubt whether the "pasture lands" were
intended to foster the practice of
vegetarianism, or "the pony," to tempt them
to experience in hippophagy. The
hours of meals came, but not the "diet
unlimited." For breakfast at 7:30 there was
a thick slice of new bread, innocent of but
ter, thrown into bold relief by small basins
of tea-tinted fluid. The dinner bell never
heralded anything but a concoction, consist
ing of bone-scrapings, overwhelmed in a
mess of potato-squash. Dinner time came
occasionally at 2 o'clock: oftener at 4 or 5, or
6 o'clock, and sometimes not until the day
after. Tea was a repetition of breakfast,
and on one memorable occasion the whole
of the forty-five unhappy young lady pupils
were massed around Mrs. Pate's private
sitting room door, knocking for their tea. It
was then 11 o'clock at night. The girls had
no pocket-money left to buy their own
loaves, as they did at first. All their letters
passed through the principal's hands,
and there remained, for not one es
caped to the postoffice. In a
fortnight the girls became weak and spirit
less. One fainted four times in one day,
and, being unable to rise from her bed on
Sunday morning, February 24, the principal
sent up a single bit of dry toast, without any
thing else, saying, "If she was hungry she
would eat that." Other girls fainted fre
quently, and one poor orphan went delirious,
repeating, with painful emphasis, "I will
have bread, papa said I was to have bread!"
Almost crazed with the treatment, one young
lady risked her secretly kept last shilling on
a telegram to her parents, sixty miles away.
No response came. By a desperate strategy
she herself crawled with a smuggled letter
to the post, and by the earliest train
her mother hastened to the rescue. It was
4:30 p. M. on her arrival, and the lady
found the forty-five girls clamoring for their
dinner, which was not then forthcoming. A
ghostly regiment they looked. Mrs. Pate
preserved her coolness throughout this
scene with wonderful success. On the tele
gram being mentioned and her charged with
keeping the shilling, it was reluctantly re
turned. The young lady's clothes were out
at wash, and would be sent home in due
course, but no penny of the prepaid fee for
the term could be extorted. Glad to escape
the painful scene of the emaciated girls, the
lady left the house with her daughter, whose
health had been cruelly undermined by that
fortnight of starvation and robbery. Her
companions shed bitter tears at her good
fortune in leaving them.
The sequel maybe told briefly. Upon
energetic measures being taken to communi-
together, andwe would certainly all be drown cate from without with friends of the un-
ed. We don't have any little happy pupils, it transpires that there are not
trap in our feet by- which a few orphan girlsplaced in Mrs. Pate's care,
and others whose parents are abroad These
have all paid the full fee in advance. Aj
colonel in Ireland paid 28 guineas with one
young lady who was a severe sufferer by the
treatment. Upon another parent going to
demand the fees and the linen of his
daughter last week (March 23), he learned
that a day or two before the principal
had coolly informed her pupils one
morning that the bailiffs were in the,
house, and that they must collect their
things and get out. They gladly did so,
most of them without money and that day
the railway station was crowded with car&
worn young ladies, who were assisted by
villagers and tradesfolk to pay their fares
home. One or two friendless orphans were
taken in charity by residents of the neigh
borhood. The furniture of the "college"
was hiredfrom a London firm,and not a stick
remained to pay petty debts for bread and
milk and servants' wages. The gentleman
paid ten guineas, with his daughter, a *ei
days prior to the crash. On returning to the
station he heard enough to make him go back
and demand his child and his money.
Only ten sovereigns could be mustered, the
rest having been quickly spent but his es
cape was cheap at the price. A joint reward
is offered to any one who will give informa
tion that will lead to the apprehension of
Mrs. Pate and her husband, who played a
subordinate, but astute part in the swindle.
Comments may be left to the reader but
the disclosure of "atrocities" of this kind
in a charming spot, bordering upon the
greatest city in the civilized world, ought to
arouse t' attention of the public, and move
them to take measures by which the bare'
possibility of the recurrence of such an out
rage shall be prevented.
Two Cities.
Side by side rose the two great cites,
Afar on the traveler's sight
One. black with the dust of labor,
One, solemnly still and white.
Apart and yet together.
They are'rcached in a dying breath,
But a river flowers bet^i een them,
And the river's name is Death,
Apart, and yet together,
Together and yet apart,
As the child may die at midnight
On the mother's living heait.
So close come the two greater cities,
With only the river between
And the grass in the one is trampled,
But the grass in the^other is green.
The hills with uncovered foreheads
Like the disciples meet,
While ever the flowing water
Is washing their hallowed feet,
And out on the glassy ocean
The sails in the golden gloom
Seem to me hut moving shadows
Of the hite enmarblcd tomb.
Anon, from the hut and the palace,
Anon, from early till late.
They come, rich and poor together.
Asking alms at thy beautiful gate.
And never nad life a guerdon
So welcome tw all to give.
In the land where the living are dying,
As the land where the dead may live.
Oh, silent city of refuge
On the way tv the city o'erhead!
The gleam of thy marble milestones
Tolls the distance we are from the dead
Full of feet, but a city untrodden,
Fu 1 of hands, but a city unbuilt,
Full of strangers who know not even
That their life-cup lies there spiet.
They know not thetomb from the palace.
They dream not they ever had died
God be thanked they never will know it
Till they live on the other side!
From the doors that death shut coldly
On the face of their last lone woe,
They came to thy glades for shelter
Who bad nowhere else to go.
Rev. S. Miller Haqeiman
That Bloodless Duel.
The New York Times prints the true
story of the Bennett-May duel, given on the
authority of George Wilkes, editor of the
Spirit of the Times, who received it direct
from Dr. Phelps, the surgeon on the occas
ion. The story is entirely creditable to Ben
net. Dr. Phelps says it was plain on the
morning of the affair that Bennett was there
to fight. Both parties had their own pistols.
Bennett's were new, with all the. latest im
provements. May's were very old,
and, as it turned out, hard upon
the trigger. The one that
Bennett got was so, at least. The party
took their places, and the word was given to
fire. The directions were to fire at the word
"Fire!" and not after the word "Three!"
Almost instantly upon the word "Fire!"
May shot. "One, two, three," followed, and
Bennett, who pulled at his trigger evidently
with the best will in the world, did not suc
ceed in getting his weapon off. He was
baffled by the stiffness of the lock. It was
an exciting moment. No one who
looked at his eye as it bore
straight across the angry wound
which his opponent had inflicted upon his
face a few days before could doubt what
Bennett then meant to do, but the pistol ex
hausted the "one, two, three," by its reluc
tance, and dropped harmlessly by his side.
His second interposed, and claimed that, as
Bennett had suffered his risk and disadvan
tage, through no fault of bis own, he was
entitled to a return shot at May. The claim,
being according to rule, was allowed, and
May took his place empty-handed before
Bennett's pistol. The disk of the Avenging
weapon covered him as the word was given,
but Bennett's face Changed as he saw his
opponent at his mercy, and, before the signal
words were counted out, he had forgiven
him and fired in the air. This terminated
the proceedings. As the party left the ground
Bennett said to the surgeon: "Well, doctor,
do you think I did right?" "I should have
been very sorry to have killed any
man at my mercy," was the answer.
"But," glancing at the shining fresh
scar across Bennett's nose, he added'
"But with such a pistol hand as yours, I
should have been terribly tempted to wing
him."' "At any rate," said Mr. Wilkes,
"his conduct was generous, and his oppo
nents should have been glad to take any
responsibility of prosecution, if that is what
governed them, to save him from being de- Jt
famed and branded as a coward. The gift
of a life was worth certainly as much as h)
that." It may be added that Bennett still if*
wears the red mark left by the scar on hia
