USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Some interesting Boston events > Part 7
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which would rival those of the freshest country beauties." He gave up a lucrative business and valuable clients, such as William Ropes, Alexander H. Ladd, of Portsmouth, Andrew Robeson, Mrs. Charles T. Jackson, and others, to further his investigation. His first experi- ment was upon his dog, and was so successful that he jocosely told his friend, Dr. Hayden, and his lawyer, R. H. Dana, Jr., that soon he should have his "patients come in at one door, having all their teeth extracted without pain, and then, going into the next room, have a full set put in." A short time later while again etherizing his dog the animal struck his ether bottle and broke it. Morton placed his handkerchief over the broken bottle and then holding it to his nostrils
Room in Massachusetts General Hospital arranged as it was when the first ether operation was performed. It is in this room that the anniversary exercises are held each year.
soon became unconscious. He was so encouraged that he then began to hunt around the wharves for a person who would submit to a test, but he discovered that while they would gladly render themselves un- conscious with bad rum, they could not be bribed to take ether. His next step was to use gas in extracting a tooth for Eben H. Frost, at his office at No. 19 Tremont Row, now Tremont Street, opposite the old Museum, on September 30, 1846. This experiment was so successful that he asked permission of Dr. John C. Warren, then senior surgeon at the Massachusetts General Hospital, to administer his ether there. Dr. Warren had a patient named Gilbert Abbott who was suffering from tumor of the jaw, and he allowed Dr. Morton to etherize him. The operation was performed on October 16, 1846, and was entirely successful. Dr. Morton was unavoidably detained and arrived
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at the hospital just as Dr. Warren was about to perform the operation without ether, the latter thinking Dr. Morton did not dare make the experiment. Dr. Warren's first words when the operation was over were, "Gentlemen, this is no humbug."
The discovery was then disclosed to the world, through Dr. Warren's efforts and the assistance rendered to Dr. Morton by the hospital. Dr. Warren wrote, "A new era has opened on the operating sur- geon," and Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes in a lecture said in part, "The fierce extremity of suffering has been steeped in the waters of forget- fulness and the deepest furrow in the knotted brow of agony has been smoothed forever." Dr. Holmes also coined the word "anæsthesia."
About a week after this successful trial at the hospital, Dr. Charles T. Jackson, a chemist, demanded a percentage of the profits derived from the sale of the ether or the patents. Much space could be devoted to the quarrel between these two doctors and to Dr. Mor- ton's repeated attempts to get his invention patented. Ether was used so generally that Dr. Morton finally called himself "the only person in the world to whom this discovery has so far been a pecuniary loss." In 1848 the Trustees of the Massachusetts General Hospital and other citizens presented him, as the true discoverer, with $1,000. He figured his profits due to the discovery at $1,600 and his expenses at $187,561. During his controversy with Dr. Jackson, some one suggested that the only way of settling the dispute would be to have a duel between the two belligerents with ether bottles, and he who remained conscious the longer should be declared the winner. Several times a bill very nearly went through Congress carrying an appro- priation of $100,000. Dr. Morton spent the latter years of his life on his farm in Wellesley, which he called "Etherton," the Wellesley Public Library being to-day on part of his place. He died of apoplexy while driving in Central Park, New York, and although he died a poor and unsuccessful man, never does a day go by without his discovery bringing joy to suffering humanity. Exercises are held at the Massa- chusetts General Hospital every year on the 16th of October to com- memorate this discovery.
A monument, the gift of Thomas Lee of Boston, in the Public Garden near the head of Marlboro Street, was erected to the dis- coverer of ether, and the inscription reads as follows :-
To COMMEMORATE THE DISCOVERY THAT THE INHALING OF ETHER CAUSES INSENSIBILITY TO PAIN. FIRST PROVED TO THE WORLD AT THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL OCTOBER 16, 1846.
It has often been asked why Dr. Morton's name wasn't on the monument. It certainly should be. Dr. Holmes said that the in- scription should read to "Either."
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SLOOP-OF-WAR "JAMESTOWN" Entering Cork Harbour on her errand of mercy. From an old print.
SOME INTERESTING BOSTON EVENTS
THE "JAMESTOWN" EXPEDITION TO IRELAND
New England came promptly to the assistance of famine-stricken Ireland in 1847, and by generous contributions was able partially to repay that country's kindness in sending food in 1676 to our starving Puritans in Massachusetts. A mass meeting was held in Faneuil Hall, where Edward Everett made a speech which was largely respon- sible for arousing the interest of New England in this enterprise. It was Everett's father who was usually known as "Boston's Yard Stick"; he was so learned and stood so high in the esteem of Bostonians that all other citizens were measured by and compared with his standard. Soon after this meeting a petition signed by prominent men was sent to Congress asking for the loan of a vessel, and although this country was at war with Mexico, nevertheless the United States man-of- war Jamestown was offered by the Government free of expense, Robert C. Winthrop, our representative in Washington, being largely responsible for procuring the ship. The Constitution was at one time considered. The Boston Relief Committee was composed of Josiah Quincy, Jr., mayor of the city, P. T. Jackson, Thomas Lee, David Henshaw, J. K. Mills, G. W. Crockett, and J. Ingersoll Bowditch, who acted as treasurer of the fund. The command of the Jamestown was intrusted to Captain Robert Bennet Forbes, and it was the first time that a civilian had ever been chosen to command a United States ship-of-war. He used to say that he "was born to eat bad pudding off the Cape of Good Hope." He first went to sea in 1817 at the age of thirteen years, with a Bible, a Bowditch navigator, a "ditty bag," and a box of gingersnaps, which the cabin boy stole the first night out. The Jamestown was prepared for sea by Commodore F. A. Parker at the Charlestown Navy Yard, and curiously enough the loading of the supplies was begun on St. Patrick's day. The La- borer's Aid Society, composed of poor Irishmen, offered their services free in placing the provisions on board, and in a few days 800 tons or about 8,000 barrels of grain, meal, etc., were stored in the hold. Massachusetts furnished $115,000 worth of food, of which Boston's share was $52,000, while other New England States gave $36,000. The ship put to sea on the 28th of March, the tug boat R.B.F., with the Relief Committee and other friends on board, escorting down the harbour the "Ship of Peace" as she was called on this trip. She arrived at Cork on April 12, having made the voyage in the extraor- dinarily quick time of fifteen days, only one tack having been made on the entire voyage. There was much enthusiasm as the Jamestown and her valuable cargo moved up the harbour, a band on shore in the mean while playing "Yankee Doodle." The chairman of the reception committee of Cork said in his address that "a thousand lips pale with woe, and a thousand tongues half paralyzed with hunger, uttered the feeble exclamation, 'God Bless America.'" During the evening bonfires blazed from every hill, and most of the houses were illuminated from top to bottom. William Rathbone, a well-known Liverpool merchant, came over to Ireland to superintend the dis- tribution of the cargo. The gratitude of the Irish people was un- bounded, and the dinners and receptions given to the officers of the
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Jamestown were too numerous to mention -- Whigs and Tories, Con- servatives and Repealers, Catholics and Protestants, all paying them their respects. Many of the children born in Ireland at this time were called Boston, Forbes or James, the latter an abbreviation, of course, of Jamestown.
One of the foremost of the Relief Committee in Cork was Father Theobald Mathew, who was one of the best known men in Ireland; he was of great assistance to the officers of the Jamestown in distrib- uting the supplies. The citizens of Cork presented to our President a flag of Irish manufacture, emblazoned with the arms of the United States, but up to the time of writing its whereabouts had not been dis- covered. Also a valuable silver tray was given to the captain of the Jamestown as well as a painting of the ship entering Cork Harbour. The Government of the United States levied a duty of $75 against the owner of the platter when it was brought to America. These mementos now belong to one of the family. A banner was also sent to the city of Boston. While visiting a Mr. Jeffries near Blarney Castle, Captain Forbes was presented with a cow, which was shipped home. She was with calf, and her progeny was known for many years as the Jamestown breed. The last of this stock died about twelve years ago at Owls Nest Farm, Framingham, the home of Robert Forbes Perkins, Esq.
In forty-nine days the Jamestown arrived in Boston, and was turned over to the Government. While at the dock the New England Relief Committee attended a lunch on board, and the provisions served consisted of mutton and poultry which had been stored on board previous to sailing fifty-one days before.
The Jamestown served as a hospital ship until a few years ago, when she was condemned as being too old for service. Her wheel, which was procured through the assistance of Hon. George von L. Meyer, when Secretary of the Navy, hangs on the wall of the house of one of the descendants of "Commodore" Forbes.
The Macedonian was sent from New York, as well as several other ships from Maine. The Pendletons, a sea-faring family, of Islesboro, Maine, also sent several vessels during the 1847 famine. Great difficulty was encountered in getting a return cargo, and finally it was decided to fill the hold with sods, which were placed on some of the farms in Islesboro. It was discovered some time ago that upon this earth had grown a large number of real Irish shamrocks, which are still alive and which serve as a memento of the part that Maine played during the famine.
The Boston Post wrote at the time the Jamestown was about to sail, that "this vessel is associated with one of the noblest charities on record"; and on her arrival the Cork Advertiser spoke of the under- taking as the "noblest offering that nation ever made to nation." This expedition was very similar to those undertaken recently by the Bel- gian relief committee.
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SOME INTERESTING BOSTON EVENTS
COLONEL ROBERT G. SHAW LEADS HIS NEGRO REGIMENT TO THE WAR
When Colonel Shaw led his coloured regiment, the 54th, past the State House before Governor Andrew and then to the steamer at Battery Wharf, thousands of people turned out to cheer "the fugitive slave transformed into a soldier by authority of a liberty-loving State," as expressed by Mayor Quincy in his address at the dedication of the Shaw monument. Governor Andrew believed that a negro regiment ought to be formed and that it would give a good account of itself -and it did. Many of the states had denied them to be "human persons," and the southern leaders frequently alluded to them as "this peculiar kind of property." Colonel Shaw had served as a private in the 7th Regiment of New York and was a commissioned officer in the 2nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry when he received a telegram from Governor Andrew asking him to take command of the first coloured regiment to be sent to the front. He rode over with Colonel Charles Morse to the camp of the 1st Massa- chusetts Cavalry and told his friends Major Higginson and Greely Curtis of his new commission. He also added that if either of his two comrades would take his place he would serve under him. Colonel Shaw joined the regiment at Readville in 1863, was married in May and sailed for South Carolina the last of the same month. The regi- ment and its brave leader were given the chance to assault Fort Wagner on July 18th of the same year. A gallant attack was made, but the garrison was fully prepared and successfully defended the position. The coloured troops reached the walls of the fort, and Colonel Shaw was shot through the heart and killed while actually standing on the ramparts. His last words from the parapet were, "Forward, 54th," and then he fell. The battle lasted two hours, and regiment after regiment was beaten back; the 54th lost two-thirds of its officers and about half its men. The Confederates buried Colonel Shaw and his dead negroes in the same trench, which was a fitting end for this officer, who gave his life to help the Union and the cause of the negro. General Thomas G. Stevenson, who later in the war also lost his life, was in command of the field on the night after the assault, and he ordered all the wounded negro troops brought inside the lines before the white soldiers, fearing that the former might receive ill treatment from the Southerners. Colonel Edward Hallowell and Colonel N. P. Hallowell, who died only recently, were at one time officers of this same regiment.
The capture of Fort Wagner was practically an impossibility, and, as was afterwards proved, the attack was unnecessary. This gallant charge, however, to use the words of Major Henry L. Higginson, proved that "the negroes had won their places as brave, steady soldiers," and, as Governor Wolcott said in his address at the unveiling of the Shaw monument in 1897, it showed "that whatever the colour of the skin, the blood that flowed in the veins of the coloured man was red with the lusty hue of manhood and of heroism." The 54th served throughout the war and was reviewed by Governor Andrew at the State House steps on its return to Boston.
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The dedication of the St. Gaudens monument opposite the State House is so recent as to be remembered by almost every Bostonian. The prime mover in building this memorial was Joshua B. Smith, a fugitive slave, who was in the service of Colonel Shaw's family and later a well-known caterer in Boston. Edward Atkinson was treas- urer of the first committee, which was a large one. The second and most active committee comprised only three men, John M. Forbes, Henry Lee and Martin P. Kennard. H. H. Richardson was the architect chosen, and on his death Charles F. McKim took his place. George von L. Meyer, who was then an alderman of the city, obtained an appointment for the construction of the terrace and stone work, Arthur Rotch having suggested the place where the monument now stands. Addresses were made in Music Hall by Colonel Francis H. Appleton, who acted as Chief Marshal, Governor Wolcott, Mayor Quincy, Professor William James,-whose brother was wounded at Fort Wagner,-Colonel Henry Lee and Booker T. Washington, who had been given an honorary degree the year before by Harvard University. Colonel N. P. Hallowell, who commanded the 55th negro regiment in the war, led the battalion of survivors, and, as the statue was unveiled, Battery A fired salutes on the Com- mon, and the New York, Massachusetts and Texas fired their guns in the harbour. The two features of the parade were the 7th Regiment of New York, with which Colonel Shaw first went to the front in 1861, and the members of the coloured 54th. The verse of James Russell Lowell on the monument tells us how Colonel Shaw met his end.
"Right in the van on the red ramparts' slippery swell With heart that beat a charge he fell foeward as fits a man; But the high soul burns on to light men's feet Where death for noble ends makes dying sweet."
The inscription composed by Charles W. Eliot, as well as Major Higginson's address in Sanders Theatre, should be read by every patriotic citizen.
St. Gaudens worked twelve years on this great work, but he must have been fully repaid for his labors by the words of Colonel Shaw's mother-"You have immortalized my native city, you have im- mortalized my dear son, you have immortalized yourself."
RETURN OF THE FLAGS TO THE STATE HOUSE
The return of the colours to the State House on Forefathers' Day, December 22, 1865, two hundred and forty-five years after the anni- versary of the landing of the Pilgrims, was a most impressive cere- mony. By an order of the War Department the volunteer regiments and batteries, when mustered out, deposited their colours with Colonel Francis N. Clarke, U.S.A., who was chief mustering officer. Major General Darius N. Couch was the commanding General, with his headquarters on Boston Common, and the flags were turned over to him by Colonel Clarke. The colour bearers left their regiments and batteries as they marched past the State House, and grouped them- selves on the steps near Governor Andrew, the "War Governor" of
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Massachusetts. The Rev. Samuel K. Lothrop offered the prayer. The Governor then received the colours, which were placed in Doric Hall, and in 1900 removed to their present positions in Memorial Hall. There are now in the collection 305 flags of the Civil War, not counting the twenty-one flags of the volunteer regiments and Naval Brigade of Massachusetts which had been carried in the Spanish
"The Return of the Battle Flags," from a painting by Edward Simmons, made from a Cop- ley Print. The painting is on the north side of the Hall of Flags in the State House. Copyright by Edward Simmons; from a Copley Print, copyright by Curtis & Cameron, and printed by their kind permission.
War and which are in a case by themselves near the Hall. The Jate Governor Guild always took a great interest in Memorial Hall, which he always referred to, and which is often known, as the Hall of Flags. It was quite in keeping that he should be the first Governor to lie in state here. The histories of the flags, if they could have been told by their standard bearers, would be of great interest, and would occupy many volumes. There are no captured flags in the State House.
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THE GREAT INTERNATIONAL WALKING-MATCH OF FEBRUARY 29, 1868.
THE origin of this highly exciting and important event cannot be better stated than in the articles of agreement subscribed by the parties.
THE ARTICLES.
Articles of Agreement entered into at Baltimore, in the United States of America, this Third day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, between GEORGE DOLBY, British Subject, alias the Man of Ross, and JAMES RIPLEY OSGOOD, American Citizen, alias the Boston Bantam. Whereas, some Bounce having arisen between the above men in reference to feats of pedestrianism and agility, they have agreed to settle their differences and prove who is the better man, by means of a walking-match for two hats a side and the glory of their respec. tive countries ; and whereas they agree that the said match shall come off, whatsoever the weather, on the Mill Dam road outside Boston on Saturday, the Twenty-ninth day of this present month; and whereas they agree that the personal attendants on themselves during the whole walk, and also the umpires and starters and declarers of victory in the match shall be JAMES T. FIELDS of Boston, known in sporting circles as Massachusetts Jemmy, and CHARLES DICKENS of Falstaff's Gad's Hill, whose surprising performances (without the least variation) on that truly national instrument, the American Catarrh, have won for him the well-merited title of The Gad's Hill Gasper.
Now, these are to be the articles of the match :
1. The men are to be started, on the day appointed, by .Massachusetts Jemmy and The Gasper.
2. Jemmy and The Gasper are, on some previous day, to walk out at the rate of not less than four miles an hour by the Gasper's . watch, for one hour and a half. At the expiration of that one hour and a half, they are to carefully note the place at which they halt. On the match's coming off, they are to station themselves in the middle of the road, at that precise point, and the men (keeping clear of them and of each other) are to turn round them, right shoulder inward, and walk back to the starting-point. . The man declared by them to pass the starting-point first is to be the victor and the winner of the match.
3. No jostling or fouling allowed.
4. All cautions or orders issued to the men by the umpires, starters, and declarers of victory, to be considered final and admitting of no appeal.
5. A sporting narrative of the match to be written by The Gasper within one week after its coming off, and the same to be duly printed (at the expense of the subscribers to these articles) on a broadside. The said broad- side to be framed and glazed, and one copy of the same to be carefully preserved by each of the subscribers to these articles.
6. The men to show on the evening of the day of walking, at six o'clock precisely, at the Parker House, Boston, when and where a dinner will be given them by The Gasper. The Gasper to occupy the chair, faced by Massachusetts Jemmy. The latter promptly and formally to invite, as soon as may be after the date of these presents. the following Guests to honor the said dinner with their presence : that is to say : - Mistress Annie Fields, Mr. Charles Eliot Norton and Mrs. Norton, Professor James Russell Lowell and Mrs. Lowell and Miss Lowell, Doctor Oliver Wendell Holmes and Mrs. Holmes, Mr. Howard Malcom Ticknor and Mrs. Ticknor, Mr. Aldrich and Mrs. Aldrich, Mr. Schlesinger, and an obscure poet named Longfellow (if discoverable) and Miss Longfellow.
Now, Lastly. In token of their accepting the trusts and offices by these articles conferred upon them, these articles are solemnly and formally signed by Massachusetts Jemmy and by the Gad's Hill Gasper, as well as by the men themselves.
Signed by the Man of Ross, otherwise
Signed by the Boston Bantam, otherwise
Jamesel Orgood.
James T. Files Y.
Signed by Massachusetts Jemmy, otherwise
Signed by The Gad's Hill Gasper, otherwise
Witness to the signatures.
THE SPORTING NARRATIVE.
THE MEN.
THE Boston Bantam (alias Bright Chanticleer) is a young bird. though too old to be caught with chaff. He comes of a thorough game breed and has a clear though modest crow. He pulls down the scale at ten stone and a half and add a pound or two. . His previous performances in the . Pedestrian line have not been numerous. He once achieved a neat little match against time in two left boots at Philadelphia ; but "this must be considered as a pedestrian eccentricity, and cannot be accepted by the rigid chronicler as high art. The old mower with the scythe and hourglass has not yet laid his mawley heavily on the Bantam's frontispiece, but he has had a grip at the Bantam's top feathers, and in plucking out a handful was very near making him like the great Napoleon Bonaparte (with the exception of the victualling-department), when the ancient one found himself too much occupied to carry out the idea, and gave it up. The. Man of Ross (alias old Alick Pope, alias Allourpraiseswhyshouldlords, &c.) is a thought and a half too fleshy, and, if he accidentally sat down upon his baby, would do it to the tune of fourteen stone. This popular Codger is of the rubicund and jovial sort, and has long been known as a piscatorial pedestrian on the banks of the Wyc. But Izaak Walton had n't Pace, - look at his book and you 'll find it slow, - and when that article comes in question, the fishing-rod may prove to some of his disciples a rod in pickle. Howbeit, the Man of Ross is a Lively Ambler and has a smart stride of his own.
THE TRAINING.
If Brandy Cocktails could have brought both men up to the post in tip-top feather, their condition would have left nothing to be desired. But both might have had more daily practice in the poetry of motion. Their breathings were confined to an occasional Baltimore burst under the guidance of the Gasper, and to an amicable toddle between themselves at Washington.
THE COURSE.
Six miles and a half, good measure, from the first tree on the Mill Dam road, lies the little village (with no refresh- ments in it but five oranges and a bottle of blacking) of Newton Centre. Here, Massachusetts Jemmy and the Gasper had established the turning-point. The road comprehended every variety of inconvenience to test the mettle of the men, and nearly the whole of it was covered with snow.
THE START
was effected beautifully. The men, taking their stand in exact line at the starting-post. the first trec aforesaid, received from The Gasper the warning. "Are you ready?" and then the signal, "One, two, three. Go!" They got away exactly together, and at a spinning speed. waited on by Massachusetts' Jemmy and The Gasper.
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