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SOUTH BRANCH INTELLIGENCER.
—?? '1 11 *-:■!■ »■ 1 — L.'^ , ■■■ ,„ , j ' -■-■i'-L’ - ■ 1 .
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM HARPER, ROMNEY, Va.
;_ s
VOLUME VII.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 1836.
NO. «•
Miscellaneous.
THE BIBLE.
jvlsfarasour species is conc-rned,
may say, one sun 1 one bible ! !
but that glorious book—blot from the
n memory wbol we have learned
om its pages, and you destroy every
' of hope. The world lieth in dark*
i! To guilty, miserable man, there
(mains no Saviour!—no heaven I—
(guide in life I—no support in afilic
tm !—no victory over death f The
jave becomes a fathomless abyss,and
Jernity spreads around him like the
fcean—dork—illimitable — fearful I —
Jut open now again that book, and lo,
be sun of righteousness arises with
pealing in his wings ; and all around
i, and above as, is love and joy and
Vpe.
CHANCE,
fia priestcraft all,’ tire impious atheist
cries,
file world was made by chance—the
Bible lies !" , ,
Is useless such assertions to fepel;
hi what if chance has also tnado a belli
EXECUTION OF A DESERTER.
a late officer in the U. States Army,
In civilized countries, where war is
luced to a science and profession
slrickest discipline, enforced by
inalties of the greatest severity, is re
ined as a substitute for the ferocious
issions and the deadly hate which, in
sage nations, are found competent
the work of destruction.
The dire work of war aannot be ac
implished when men fight from mere,
professional motives, or in obedi
ice to their rulers, without a system
the most rigorous compulsion. Tht
takness, the tender sensibilities, eve'n
my of the outward vices, must bt
jjected to- this system—-individua
llition must be suppressed—and the
bole army move like so many' ma
jines, only as the will of some con
' llitig agfency shall direct. With the
tadlul severities, not to say atroci
js, of this system, I believe the com
mity at large are very little acquuint
. Sometimes, indeed, the severity
fails on one illustrious by birth, or for
tune, or character—an Andre, an As
gill, a flayne, and then public sympa
thy and coinmisseration are excited
and the cruel severity of the laws art
deplored- But the fate of the pool
private soldier, who is more generally
i that victim of such severity, is rarely
JiOipwn beyond the circle of his family
phf|}his fellow soldiers—Bpectatots 01
^pPts in this melancholy tragedy.
Believing that a mote general knowl
edge, among the citizens, of the camp
'and a more perfect acquaintance witt
^the particulars which make up tht
“"ipound of war, will have a tenden
o diminish the warlike spirit,1 shal
|te a scene which occurred iu tht
war w,th England, and of whici
1 was an eye witness.
In 1814, 1 was stationed, with a de
*iment of United States’ troops, ai
lenbush, in the State of New York
morning seveiai prisoners wht
been contmed in the provost guard
ise, were brought out to hear tht
deuces which a court martial hat
exed to their delinquencies on pa
e. Their appearance indicated lha
:ir lot had already beeu sufficiently
jrd. Some wore the marks of lotq
[nfinenient, and on all the severity o
~ prison had eustamped its hnpres
d.. They looked dejected at thii
blic exposure, and anxious to lean
ieir fate. 1 hud never seen the fact
any of them before, aud only kueu
at a single one of them had oeeu ad
dged to death. Soon us their name:
ere called and their sentences pro
iouuced, 1 discerned by his agoov unc
esiutes, the miserable man on whoa
[out sentence wus to fall—a men in
|tie ulootu of youtn aud lulucss ol
ealth and vigor.
Prompted by feelings of sympathy
culled the next rooming, to see Ihui
li hu prison.—There, chained oy the
L-j> to the beam of me guard-house,lie
ius reading the Bible, trying to pre
lure as be said, tor the latai hoar, i
Urned from him the circumstances oi
|om the camp. cnuie was de
Irtion, ol which he had been tbret
Imes guilty, ills only object in leav
|g the camp in me last n,stance, hr
fclared w'ag'to visit his wi|« Und thil
fyn. Having aeeu that all was ugh
lecase. He was the father ofala
uly—having a wife and three tuiai
luldren, thirty or forty aides disiaui
«r|h them, it was his imetiiwu to re
| turn. But whatever was his intention,
1 lie was a deserter, and as such, taken
and brought into camp—manacled and
under a guard of his fellow soldiers.
The time between the sentence and
the execution was brief; the authority
on whom alone was Vested the power
of reprieve or pardon, distant. Thus
.he had no hope, and only requested
the attendance of a minister cf the gos
pel, find permission to see his wife and
children. The first part of his re
quest was granted—but whether he
was permitted or not to see his family
I do not now remember.
Dreading the hour of his execution,
I resolved, if possible, to avoid being
present at the scene. But the com
mander of the post, Col. L ——,
sent me an express order to attend,
that agreeably to the usages of the ar
my, 1 might, in my official capacity of
surgeon,see the sentence fully executed.
The poor fellow was taken from the
guard-house, to be escorted to the fatal
spot. Before him was his coffin—a
box of rough pine boards—borne on
the shoulders of two men, The priso
ner stood, with his arms pinioned,, be
tween two clergymen—a while cotton
gown or winding sheet, reached his
feet. It was trimmed with black, and
had attached to it, over the place of
the real heart, the black image of a
heart—the mark St which the execu
tioners were to aitfi. On his head was
a cap of white, also trimmed with
black. His countenance was blanch
ed to the hue of his winding sheet, and
his frame trembled with agony. He
seemed resolved, however, to suffer
like a soldier. Behind him were a
number of prisoners, confined for va
rious offences—next to (bem was a
strong guard of soldiers, with fixed
bayonets and loaded muskets. My
station was in the rear of the whole.
Our procession thus formed, and with
much feeling, and in low voices upon
the part of the officers'—we moved for
ward with slow and measured Steps to
the tune of a dead march (Rosliu Cas
tle,) played with muffled drums and
mourning fifes. The scene was solemn
beyond the power of description, a
man in (he vigor of life walking to bis
grave—to the tune of his own dead
march—clothed in his burial robes—
surrounded by friends assembled to
perform the last sad office of affection,
and to weep over him in the last sad
hour; no, not by these, but by sol
diers with bristling bayonets and loa
ded muskets, urged by stern command
to do the violence of death to a fellow
soldier : as he surveys the multitude,
he beholds no look of tenderness—no
tear of sensibility—he hears no plaint
of grief—all—all is stern as the iron
rigor of the law which decrees his
death. And who made the law ? Ii
is the work of hard necessity, and as
such is just. But, alas, who created
the necessity i The guilty passions—
the pride—the vain glory—the false
honor of men 1 The voice of that
blood will soon cry from the ground—
whom shall it accuse ? It will com
plain not of the sentence of the law,
but of guilty, war, cherished by human
will and pride. To whom shall that
widow and those orphans look as the
author of their desolation? Whom
shall the spirit of this pour soldier
meet at the judgment and charge with
his guilt ?
rvunu reuccuons line mese wu arri
ved at lire place of execution, a large
open field in whose centre a heap ol
earth, freshly thrown up, marked the
spot of the deserier’s grave. On this
field the whole force men at the can
tonment, amounting to many hundred
men, was drawn up in the form of a
hollow square, with the side beyond
the grave, vacant. The executioners,
eight in number, had been drawn by
lot. No soldier would volunteer for
such a duty. Their muskets had beeu
charged by the officer of the day—se
ven of them with ball, the eighth with
powder alone. Thus prepared, they
are placed together, and each execu
tioner takes choice. Thus each may
believe Chat he has the blank cartridge,
and therefore hus no hand in the death
of hit brother soldier—striking indi
cations of the nature of the service.
The cofiiil was placed parallel with
the grave and about two feet distant,
in me intervening space the prisouei
was directed to stand, tie desired
permission to say a word to his fellow
soldiers, and thus standing between the
coffin and bis grave, warned them a
gainst desertion, continuing tu speak
until the officer on duty,with his watca
in his hand,autiouuced to him in a low
voice, Two o'clock} your last mo
ment is at hand—you mast kneel up
on cojfcn. £ntj {fyne, tint offitsi
drew down the white cap, so as to
cover the eyei and most of the face of
the prisoner—stil l continuing to speak
in a hurried, loud and agitated voice.
The kneeling was the signal for the
executioners to advance—they bad be
fore, to avoid being distinguished by
the prisoner, stood intermingled with
thg soldiers who formed the line; they
now came forward marching abreast,
and took their stand a little to the left
abont two rocte'distant from their liv
ing mark. The officer raised his sword.
At this signal the executioners took
aim. He then gave a blow on u drum
which was at hand, the executioners
all fired at the same instant. The
miserable man, with a horrid scream
leaped from the earth, and fell be
tween his coffin and his grave. The
sergeant of the guard, a moment after,
shot him through the head,with a mus
ket reserved for this purpose in case
the executioners should not produce
instant death. The sergeant, from mo
lives of humanity, held the muzzle of
his’inuiket near the head—so uear that
the cap took fire—and there the body
lay upon the face—and head emiling
this mingled fume9 of burning cotton
and burning hair. O war—dreadful
even in thy tenderness—horrible even
in thy compassion I
i whs now aesirea to periorm my
part of the ceremony ; aod placing
my hand where just before the pulse
beat full, and the life*hlood flowed
warm, and finding no symptoms of
I either, I affirmed be is dead. The
nltole line then marched by the body
as it. lay upon the earth, the head still
smoking—that every man might be
hold for himself, the fate of a deserter.
Thus far, all had been dreadful, in
deed, but soiemn, as it became the
sending of a spirit to its dread ac
count: but now the scene changed. The
whole band struck up, and with un
common animation our national air
(Yank,gp.i)d|(fodle,) and to its lively
measures we were hurried back to out
parade ground. Having been dismiss
ed, the commands,r of the post sent an
invitation to all the officers to meet at
bis quarters, whither we repaired and
were treated with a glass of gin and
water. Thus the tragedy ended in
what seethed a little better than a farce
—a fair specimen, the former of dread
severity—the latter of the tender sen
sibilities—which prevail in the cairip.
Do scenes such as these which 1 have
described enter the minds of those who
have the chief agency of involving
their respective countries in a war ?
Do they ever flit across the imagination
of the statesman, while he is talking
loudly of his country’s honor—of the
splendor of military glory—of the ne
cessity of warlike, action to wipe off
the imputations upon .(heir national
courage ? Do they ever cast their
dismal shade over the glowing picture
of chivalry, which in the ardor of
passion rises to their vision ? Are they
entertained with the conceptions of
those who,wiihout examination, reject
as idle dreams all plans for the adjust*
meat of international difficulties with
out resort to war, and deride as vis
ionary all speculation for introducing
the principles of a better morality into
the code of international law ? Do
the great mass of men, ever eager ut
the voice of their leaders to cause the
standard of war to be upreared, know
in reality what war is ?
Advocate of Peace.
Some of the German Wines nre sour
as vinegar, and as rough as a file. It
ii remarked ot those of Slutgard, that
one, is like a cat going down jour throat,
and auolher is like the same cal drawn
buck again by the tail.
What a poof creature is that man
who is forever begging and borrowing
a newspaper, and never contributes a
cent tuwards its support.
What a poorer creature is that man,
who subscribes for a newspaper, and
defrauds the primer of his pay.
; V • 111 ^ , , v
A New Article of Trrdb.—A
trader in this town advertises—“Gen •
ilemeu’s bosoms,*’ If he will sell gen
tlemen’s hearts the ladies will patro
nise him, l’erchaqfce.the bosoms are
false—hearts certainly are, at least so
say the women,—Lowell Commend.
An old woman who sold beer, be
ing in church, fell asleep during the
sermuu and unluckily let her oldfusb
ioned bible fall, which making a great
noise she exclaimed,i.i a great passion
half awake,—“so you jade ! there’s
knottier uou!? liraktti
INTELLIGENCER.
Homurn:
SATUHDAY, AUGUST 20, 1836.
The Centreville (Md.) Times
says that the Corn crop throughout
Queen Anne’s County presents a distres
sing appearance, being quite parched up
for want of rain.
Texas.—The editor of the Rodney
(Miss.) Herald publishes a letter from
a gentleman who has lately removed
from Rodney to Texas, named J. E.
Flowers who in reciting a conversation
held with General Samuel Houston,
makes him say that'the whole d-d
cabinet ought to be hanged,’ and that
‘he was fearful when he left Texas,that
| Santa Ana would bribe the cabinet.’
O’The Editor of the Richmond En
quirer who now finds pleasure in rpeak
ing disparagingly of Gen. Harrison,once
uaed the following language in reference
to him;
"General Harrison’s detailed letter
tells every thing we wish to know a
bout all the officers except himself.
He does justice to every one but Har
rison^ and the world must do justice
to the man who was too modest to do
justice to himself /”—Mart. Gam
A new method of making hornets
has been invented by Mr. William
Dukehart of Baltimore. Sewing the
parts together is done away with and
copper rivets substituted in its stead.
—it is said to be much more durable
and economical than the old method.
-Ib.
THE HESSIAN FLY.
The losses occasioned by this des
tructive insect, during the past year,
hava stimulated inquiry as to its histo
ry and the possibility of preventing or
mitigating its ravages. We published,
a few days ago,a plan which had been
tried witti success, and we trust the
experiment will he repeated, so that its
merits may be fairly ascertained.—A
gentleman who has been spending
soma time with a friend in Washington
County bas just acquainted us with a
1 uother, which we make public for the
benefit of our agricultural friends. A
farmer in that county Was blessed, sev
eral years ago, with a most abundunt
harvest, but found it almost impossible
to obtain hands to secure it. Under
the apprehension of losing it, he com
menced, (against tha advice of his
friends) reaping several days before
the Wheat was ripe. The grain thus
cut before the proper time, was laid by
und used for seed the next year. The
lly desolated the field of his neighbors,
whilst his seemed to defy their attacks.
He reaped an overflowing harvest,
whilst they scarcely made enough for
seed and bread. Struck with the re
sult of the experiment, he repeated it
with the moat decided success, and
this year, whilst all the crops of his
neighbors hava failed, his are as abun
dant as usual.. He atuibutes his suc
cess entirely to the use of grain cut be
fore it was ripe, and accounts for this
result upon the hypothesis, that the fly
deposites its>eggs, only, upon wheal
when perfectly ripe, and ol course,that
gruin cut in an immature state escapes
it. The theory seems plausible enough,
and is, at least worthy of attention and
experiment.— Balt. Patriot.
Great Fraud and Failure.—Ben
jiimin Rathbun of Buffalo, who was
extensively eugaged in u vast, variety
and amount ol business, in Real Fa
tale, Building, Merchandize, lines of
Stages, Jic. &c.—employing 600 hor
ses, 28 clerks, and 200Q persons.in the
numerous departments of his ehtetpri/.e,
has failed for a million and a half ol
dollars, but has assigned properly
which is estimated at two millions—
unfortunately he, was tempted . to ex
tend the circulation of bis paper by
forging the names of wealthy endor
seis—which for some time continued
to give him the use of heavy funds—
but at length a business embracing so
many ramifications and aiming (o mo
nopolize profits from so'^many sources
fell to pieces—and although it is said
Mr. Raihbun’s assignments will covei
all his debts, embracing bis forgeries
—yet this crimiual act will forever de
prive him ol the sympathy which
would otherwise be felt lor the misfor
tunes of a spirited and enterprising
mercbant. In his Deed of assignment
he provides that his Clerks, Mechan
ics, und daily laborers shall be first
paid.—(Jen. of Lib.
Steam is now applied to warm build
ings of all kinds, to boil salt, to refine su
gar, to bond wood, to wash clothes, to
hoil vegetables, to warm baths,* to hatch
chickens, to kill vermin, to put out fire,
and to propel ships and carriages.
Tomatos, which this time last season
might be purbhased for about 60 cents
per bushel, or three for a cent, in our
markets, now command six dollars per
bushel 1 owing to the increased demand,
and the unfavorable weather for grow
ing them. —Phil, News,
The Bane and Antidote.—There is
a paper published in Hew Orleans, one
half ot which is in French and the other
in English—the French part being in
favor of Judge White for President,
while the English half goes strongly for
Van Buren. If a lie is told in English
it is contradicted in French, and visa
versa. In short, it is said to be 6 very
accommodating paper.
Imports of Grain.—We learn from
a statement in the New York Journal
of Commerce, that the imports of
wheat at the port of New York, for the
half year ending on the SOib June, a
mounted upwards lo 123,800 bushels.
Corn and Rye being duty free, no reg
ular account is kept of them, but the
Journal supposei the quantity of Rye
imported during this period has been
quite as large as that of wheat.
It is stated in the New Orleans pa
pers that Mr. Qlwyn J. Trask, a young
gentleman who greatly distinguished
himself at the battle of San Jacinto,
and died recently at Galveston of inju
ries in that engagement, had not re
ceived a wound which, under ordinary
circumstances,would batfe been severe;
but the ball on extraction was found to
be copper, which occasioned unusual
indamation and irritation, and produc
ed a fatal result. The employment of
such means of itself, places the Mexi
cans beyond the protection of the rules
of honorable warfare,and is an atrocity
which might have been expected from
men guilty of the massacres previously
enacted.—Their next achievement will
probably be a resort to poisoning the
springs, and the provisions which they
will be constrained to leave behind in
the retreat, to which they are .surely
doomed. At tbe commencement ol
the war, Saota Ana spoke of the “ex
termination of vermin.” .To which
party in the contest, is the epithet most
applicable i—Philad. Sat. News.
Commodore Porter, the American
charge at Constantinople, writes to thei
editor of the Sporting Magazine, on the
treatment of foundered horses, by a Tur
kish Veterinary Surgeon, as follows :
I sent for. a Turkish farrier, the one
who attends the Sultan’s horses. He
immediately . pronounced tha horse
foundered, and said he must be bled in
the inside of the diseased leg. He put
n nipper on his nose to keep him stea
dy, then lockup.the left leg, and cross
ing it over the right, gave it to an at
tendant ; he then stack his lancet into
the vein a little above the fetlock joint,
and took from it about three pounds
and a half of blood—the vein bled very
freely. He now said he bad taken e
nough ; he then went to the Very op
posite side of the legend striking his
laneet into.a vein above the koee joint,
a single drop of blood exuded, and
both that and the first opened vein in
stantly ceased bleeding.—Ther.e may
be no novelty in this, but it certainly
astonished me to find, that opening
two veins in the same limb stopped
both from bleeding, such however is
the fact, for I witnessed it.
He desired that the horse should
rest the next day, that he should then
ba rode with great violence until ,he
wag in a profuse perspiration, the dis
eased limb then to be rubbed with wet
salt (to which I added a pint of hot
brandy) then rubbed dry, and then
walked about until cool, and all lame
ness from that time disappeared—-the
horse the third day was perfectly well.
An experienced farmer in tho Neth
erlands slates, that an ounce of saltpe
tre dissolved in a pint of water, with an
ounce of flour of sulpher, and scattered
upon gram in a granary, is an lufalible
moans of preventing it from spoiling.
A blacksmith of Milan, named Tonti
das discovered that, by suspending a
length of a chain to one of tne corners ot
tho anvil by means of a ring, tho noise ol
the hammer may he almost entirely dea
dened.
An unsuccessful lover was asked by
what means he lost his divinity : ‘Alas!
cried ho,‘l flattered her until she got to
ba too proud to speak to me.’
The Red Bug-—A letter writer from
the Sabine river, on the..border of Lou
isiana and Texas, gives us the follow
ing account: "I must confess that I do
not like this country—that on the oth
' er side of the Sabine is said to be en
tirely different.’ The weather is op
pressive! y'warm, the thermometer has
stood from 80 to 90 degrees in the
shade, and this is but the beginning of
summer—rit is said to last till October.
The musquetoes abound, and millions
of reptiles, of beautiful and hideous va
riety, snakes and lizards of various
orders^atantulas,centipedes, and scor
pions of all sizes, bugs, bees, wasps,
tics, and an almost imperceptible little
bugcaliid the red bug, or, as termed
by the negroes, che-gars, or jig-gers
(for the bite of them almost makes one
dance a jig.) The bite of these little
wretches, in the first instance, causes
the flesh to look as if a drop of boiling
water had fallen upon it, It begins to
be inflamed directly, & a most intoler
able itching is produced. On examin
ing the spot you will perceive that the
insect has worked itself under the skin,
and eaten out a little cavity like a cell.
Cholera among horses.—The peo
ple of Newark, N. J. are losing (heir
horses by a disease, which appears to
be as fatal as the icbolera among men,
Mr. Dickerson, who keeps an exten
sive livery stable at that place, lost 8
elegant and very valuable steeds, all.of
which died with from 8 to 20 hours
sickness.
. . LOOK HERE !
Lir-rmo the Curtain-—Tits U. 8.
Telegraph thus unlocks some of the land
Speculators!
Amos Kendall came to this city in
1829, poor penny less and deeply in
debt: so much so, that he consent'
to receive (and Mr. Daniel, of Kenti
dy(interceded with his political friei
who levied a contribution which
given to Kendall as a donation
charity 11 , . N
How times are changed, K.
is now Postmastef General, and
concerned in speculations in piV
lands. , We state the fact upon thi’l
formation ofmore than one of Kendall
partners in his land speculations, tha'^
he was very largely concerned in more
than one company, and that be held
FIFTY I'HOUdAND dollars in one
company alone, which had been selling
at two dollars for one paid io, and
which, in consequence of the passage
of the distribution bill, fell sixty per
cent. Thus Kendall’s loss, on one
single speculation, by the passage of
the bill was thirty thousand dollars / /
The effect of the President’s treasury
order is to enable Kendall and Co. to
sell their land for bank,notes. Because,
as the emigrant who has not provided
himself with specie, cannot buy gov
ernment lands, he will be glad to give
a higher price to Kendall & Company.
Is it a matter of surprise, therefore,
that Kendall .and the Globe ard oppos
ed to the distribution bill and in lavor
of the treasury order ? . „
So much for Mr. Kendall, A word
to Mr. Butler, Mr. Van ,Boren’s pet.
VVe have heard, and we believe it,to be
true, but We do not state it with full
confidence, & therefore call upoo Mr.
Butler to admit or deny the facts.
We have heard that the American
Land Company gave Mr. Butler, (the
Attorney General,), a bonus of fifty
thousand dollars, lor the use of his
name and bis service in preparing their
articles of association. Are we cor
rectly informed or not.
i How did Kendall get fifty thousand
dollars to vest in land ? His salary in
T years has amounted to but $21,000;
he has supported a large faintly, and
paid off old scores. How lias lid done
this and made fifty thousand dollars
out of liis twenty-one thousand ? The
answer is, the pel banks—the pet
banks ! I
• A Venerable Teriapin.—A G’ltya. *
burg paper says ‘‘Mr. Peter Fer
ree, of tlie neighborhoodof Petersburg,
(York Springs) when be moved to ins
present place of residence, in ibe year
1790, found a land terrapin in a 15
acre field on Ins farm, and marked up
on it his name and dais of the year.
The same terrapin has been seen by
him in the same held every year since
1790, (forty*six years) except the Iasi.
It lias been again seeu this year. How
long 11 had been there before he can
form no idea—nor how long i( huy
retain possession.”
The visiters at the „biw Sulphur
Springs amoyai io 50U and are daily
increasing "