USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > The Cincinnati miscellany, or, Antiquities of the West, and pioneer history and general and local statistics, Volume I > Part 7
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MARRIAGES.
On the 20rd inst., by the Rev, E. W. Sehon, C. A. GARRETT, of the firm of C. A. Garrett & Co., and Miss ELIZA A. JORDAN, all of this city.
On [the 23d' inst., by the Rev, N. L. Rice, Mr.P. M. FARNSWORTH, of the Atlas Office, and Miss MARTHA FULTON, eldest daughter of Robert Fulton, Esq., all of this city.
On the 23d inst., by the Rev. Hart Judah, Mr. ISAAC LIEBENSTEIN and Miss ADELINE WOLF, both of this city.
In Covington, Ky., on the 23d inst., by the Rev. Mr. Bayless, Mr. JOHN G. WEBB and Miss PAMELA PAYNE, all of this city.
On the 24th inst., by Rev. Mr. Deering, Mr. ALEXAN. DER C. CHRISTOPHER and Miss SUSAN JONES, daughter of Wm. H. Steele, all of this city.
On Fifth Day, the 24th inst .. in Friends' Meeting, JAMES TAYLOR and ELIZABETH C. danghler of the late Wm. Shipley.
DEATHS.
On Friday morning, Oct. 18th, 1844, at the house of her uncle, Nathan Stewart, on Sycamore St., south of 8th, Miss Jane F. Tuley, of Scarlet Fever. aged 21 years.
Monday evening, at 10 o'clock, in the 35th year of his age, Mr. Win. Ryall, formerly a native of Halifax, Novia Scotia.
On Wednesday afternoon, 23d inst .. at half-past 3 o' clock, Amelia A. Cnamplin, daughter of Matthew F Champlin.
On the 21st inst., after a severe illness of a few days VANNELIA JAMES, infant daughter of James R. and An- gelina Smith.
Changes in Transportation.
It is but a few years since, that the mackerel and herring put up at the east in the fall, only reached us in Cincinnati at the opening of the spring business, there being felt too great a risk in the circuitous and tardy route of the ship- ment of its being intercepted by the closing of
navigation either of the Ohio or the canals One among many evidences of a change in this respect, I noticed on Wednesday last, the 23rd inst., in a row of barrels of herring and mack- erel, inspected and branded October, 1844, and lying opposite Elliott's. Lower Market. Those who relish the luxury of a fat mackerel, but a few days in salt, can appreciate the benefits which our modern approximations eastward are conferring on us.
Mike Fink.
BY HIRAM KAINE.
In the interval between the first commence- ment of trade and travel on the Ohio and Mi -- sissippi rivers, and the introduction of steam- boats, a race of men, with peculiar and dis- tinct habits and manners, sprang into existence upon the silent waters. They were composed of old Indian fighters, who, on the return of peace, could not abandon their predatory habits, and of refugees from more civilized classes of society. who saw an attraction in the wild life of adventure led by the Boatmen. No trace is now left of them,-as the steamboat-man of the pre- sent day is no more like his kecl-boat progeni- tor, than the "hand" on a fishing boat is like a salt water sailor. We will not undertake to say in whose favor this difference would operate. It is very possible that while much of the blunt sincerity and courage of former times has de- generated into ruffianism, society. at least along the rivers, has gained by the safety of its prop- erty from lawless pillage.
As Mike was the last, so was he the most cel- ebrated of all the "River men." To this day there is scarce a town or city between Pitts- burgh and New Orleans, that has not some tra- dition in which he bears a conspicnous part. He appears to have been a man of great personal strength and courage, and of singular energy of character.
From what we have been able to learn, Mike was born about the year 1780, in Allegheny co., Pa .; and his early adventures in the city of Pitts- burgh, were of themselves sufficient to form a volume of wild romantic interest, illustrative of the bloody character of the Indian wars.
While a mere stripling, Mike enlisted in a corps of scouts, a body of men who "fought the Indians in their own way," and exulted in the capture of a scalp, as much as did their savage enemies, Many were the bloody and desperate conflicts in which they were engaged; and here Fink displayed those admirable qualities of courage and fortitude, for which he was after- wards so famous. One of his adventures, while a scout, is worthy of a recital; and it was one which he himself used to tell with great pride.
"As he was creeping along one morning with the stealthy tread of a cat, his eye fell upon a beautiful buck, browsing on the edge of a bar- ren spot three hundred yards distant. The temptation wastoo strong for the woodsman,and he resolved to have a shot. at every hazard. Re- priming his gun and picking his flint, he made his approaches tn the usual noiseless manner. At the moment he reached the spot from which he, meant to take his aim, ne observed a large sav- age, intent upon the same object, advancing from a direction a little different from his own, Mike shrunk behind a tree with the quickness of thought, and, keeping his eye fixed on the hunter, waited the result with patience. In a
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few moments the Indian halted within fifty pa-| ces, and leveled his piece at the deer. In the meanwhile, Mike presented his rifle at the body of the savage, and at the moment the smoke is- sued from the gun of the latter, the bullet of Fink passed through the Red man's breast : he uttered a yell and tell dead at the same instant, with the deer. Mike re-loaded his rifle, and remained in his covert for some minutes, to as- certain whether there were more enemies at hand, he then stepped up to the prostrate savage, and having satisfied himself that life was exun- guished, turned his attention to the buck, and took from the carcass those pieces suited to the process of jerking."
In the progress of years, however, the great West began to fill up with a white population ; and the tribes either retiring or making peace the occupation of the scouts was gone. Some of them settled down as farmers,-others still ranged the woods as hunters-but by far the greater number commenced trading on the river. Among this latter number was Mike Fink, who by his superior courage and dexterity, soon be- came the most famous of all his companions. By the phrase, trading on the river, our readers are not to understand the system of commercial intercourse which now covers the Western wa- ters with floating palaces. A broad low flat- boat, with a "cabin" erected in the centre, in which the crew slept upon straw, propelled by long poles, constituted the only vehicles for transportation. Upon these "dug outs," the richest cargoes were often taken from Pittsburgh to New Orleans; and though anything but se- cure guardians to the property along the river, we believe there is no example on record, of dishonesty towards their employers by the boat- men. Mike's standing, in this particular, is thus summed up in the fragment of a work, a few leaves of which have been sent to us by a friend, entitled, "The Last of the Boatmen,"-"Every farmer on the shore, kept on good terms with Mike; otherwise there was no safety for his property. Wherever he was an enemy, like his great prototype Rob Roy,he levied the contribu- tion of Black mail for the use of his boat. Of- ten at night, when his tired companions slept, he would take an excursion of five or six miles, and return before morning, rich in spoil. On the Ohio he was known among his companions by the appellation of the "Snapping Turtle," and on the Mississippi he was called the"Snag."
with white fringe. On his feet were moccasins, and a broad leathern belt, from which hung sus- pended in a sheath a large knife, encircled his waist.
His wonderful skill with the rifle, was not among the least imposing of Mike's claims to the adiniration and obedience of the wild people among whom he lived. Various stories of the singular precision of his aim, are still extant. While passing Wheeling once, a negro was walking up from the beach with a small pitcher upon his head. Although at a considerable dis- tance, the unerring rifle knocked the vessel from its resting-place, to the no small amusement of his companions. Another feat is thus narrated of him :-
"Mike, followed by several of his crew, led the way to the beech-grove some distance from the landing. I invited my fellow-passengers to witness the scene. On arriving at the spot, a stout, bull-headed boatman, dressed in a hunt- ing-shirt, but bare-footed, in whom I recognised a younger brother of Mike, drew line with his toe, and stepping off thirty yards, turned round fronting his brother, took a tin-cup which hung from his belt, and placed it on his head. Al- though I had seen this feat performed before, I acknowledge 1 felt uneasy whilst this silent preparation was going on. But I had not much time for reflection ; for this second Albert ex- claimed --
'Blaze away, Mike, and let's have the quart.'
My 'compagnons de voyage,' as soon as they recovered from the first effect of their astonish- ment, exhibited a disposition to interfere. But Mike, throwing back his left leg, levelled the rifle at the head of his brother. In this hori- zontal position the weapon remained for some seconds as immoveable as if the arm which held it was affected by no pulsation.
*Elevate your piece a little lower, Mike, or you will pay the corn,' cried the imperturbable brother.
I know not if the advice was obeyed or not. But the sharp crack of the rifle immediately fol- lowed, and the cup flew off thirty or forty yards, rendered unfit for future service. There was a cry of admiration from the strangers, who press- ed forward to see if the fool-hardy boatman was really safe. He remained as immoveable as if he had been a figure hewn out of stone. He had not even winked, when the ball struck with- in two inches of his skufl.
This was the palmy period of Mike's career. He was in all but name, a king. Law,-he re- "Mike has won"' I exclaimed. And my decis- ion was the signal which, according to their rules, permitted him of the target to move from his position. No more sensation was exhibited among the boatmen, than if a common wager had been won. The bet being decided, they hurried back to their boat, giving me and my friends an invitation to partake of the treat.' cognised none, save his own wishes, while he possessed unbounded influence over his com- rades. His personal appearance at this period is thus described in the sketch betore us :- "He was leaning carelessly against a large beech, and as his left arm negligently pressed a rifle| 10 his side, presented a figure that Salvator would have chosen from a million, as a model for his Another feat he used himself to narrate with much relish. Once, while floating down the middle of the stream, he discovered a negro, with his foot upon the fence, watching the boat as it passed. wild and gloomy pencil. His stature was up- wards of six feet, his proportion perfectly svm- metrical, and exhibiting the evidence of Her- culean powers. To a stranger he would have seemed a complete mulatto. Long exposure to "That nigger's heel is entirely too long for use. Who'll bet I can't trim it from here ?' said Mike. the sun and weather, on the lower Ohio and Mississippi, had changed his skin; and but for A quart was instantly staked,-and Mike, slow- ly raising his rifle to his shoulder-the "nigger" was saved several inches of leather in'after times. the fine European cast of his countenance, he might have passed for the principal warrior of; some powerful tribe. Although at least fifty But it would fill a volume to detail half of the strange legends of which Mike was the hero; years of age, his hair was as black as the wing ofj the raven. Next to his skin he wore a red flan- and we must close our rescarches into his histo- nel shirt, covered by a bluc capoto ornamented ry, for the present.
CINCINNATI MISCELLANY.
CINCINNATI, NOVEMBER, 1844.
Animal Magnetism. No. II.
I have said that many of the occult workings of nature, as ohserved in Pennsylvania, are not less wonderful than the mesmeric phenomena, and that as they establish the great fact of the universal sympathetic principle which pervades all nature, they corroborate the general truthis of Animal Magnetism and Neurology.
A dislike to lengthen an article already too long, forbade my resorting to specifications in my last article on this subject. I have, there- fore, exposed myself to cavils and doubts as to the matters of fact which are involved in the va- rious modifications of the mesmeric, or great sympathetic science, as they exist in Pennsy !- vania, and probably elsewhere. Be it my em- ployment now, to furnish a narrative of individ- ual cases, which rest on the testimony of men resident here and whose veracity and intelligence cannot be impeached by any man in the com- munity. Their names can be had on applica- tion to me.
Many years since, said my informant on one of these points, I kept store in Baltimore. My- selfand a clerk in my employ, were one evening sitting at supper, when an inmate of the family burst into the room with, Oh! ivir. D., Mrs. Mor- rison's child is just scalded dreadfully, and can- not live. Mrs. Morrison was one of our neigh- bors. Let us go over to her house, said Mr. G., the clerk , I can cure the scald. I stared at him, but on his rising to go over, went along. There was the child scalded as badly as I ever saw a human being, and in perfect agony. The moth- er had bathed it in oil, and bandaged it over, but the screams continued and were dreadfully distressing. Madam, said G., please take off; bleeding, in a manner equally remarkable.
these bandages. What for, said the mother .- I can extract the fire if you do. She declined. said another person to me, a very intelligent I added my request to that of my clerk. The man, where I kept the most extensive livery bandage was removed and the appearance of; stable in the place. The water which was used the body was awful. I had no idea that the child for the horses, had become unfit for further could live twenty-four hours. As soon as it was entirely stripped, G. leaned over it, breathed on it, and said a few words in a low tone. The child hushed up instantly, and not even a moan or a sob followed. Come said Mr. G., the pain is gone, let us go back to supper.
The scald healed in a few days. I never could get him to tell me how he operated the cure ; when I spoke to him on the subject, he al- ways contrived to change it. He could also stop bleeding at a moment's notice, and without a failure.
Another very remarkable faculty he posses- sed, which was, that if the names of two per.
sons were handed on a piece of paper to him, he could invariably tell which would first die.
Hear the testimony of a second witness, as respectable a man as any in Cincinnati, or any- where else. I had a fine horse which had the lokes, said my informant, and I took him to a celebrated farrier in our neighborhood, to be cured. Besides being cut in the eye for this complaint, he was bled to reduce the fever which accompanied it. The operation being delicately and skilfully performed, took up near- ly the whole morning, and by the time it was completed, the dinner was ready, of which 1 wasinvited to partake. I was, however, anwil_ ling to lose sight of the horse, who was bleed- ing freely, and hesitated to comply. It was a summer day, and the door to the dinner room which led to the yard, was wide open, and I was enabled by a slight movement of the head, to keep my eye almost at the same moment on both the farrier and my horse. The horse ap- peared considerably exhausted with the loss of blood. and being a valuable one, I became a- larmed, and told the operator that he would bleed to death. No danger replied he, that is the life of the cause. I persisted, however, and told him he must come out and we would ban- dage him up, so as to stop the bleeding. Oh! said he, if that is what you want, I can do it here just the same. So saying, he turned him- self on his chair at the table, and without rising from his seat, repeated something, and perhaps made some motions, and the blood which had been running a steady stream, stopped flowing, instantaneously. I am certain not another drop fell after my attention was directed to the horse. I have seen other persons who could also stop
In 1814, I resided on Diamond Alley, Pittsburg,
service, and we had dug a new well, in sink- ing which, we went a great depth, and after all the water was not fit to use. As it had cost much trouble to dig it so deep, the disappoint- ment was great, and I was the more annoyed at the circumstance, by the fact, that absolutely I did not know what to do next. In this per- plexity, an individual who proved to be a well digger by profession. came along, and after ex- amining the premises, remarked to me that I should have dug there, pointing to a spot about five feet along side. I was so provoked with him, in my then excited and worried state of feeling, that I told him petulantly, that he only
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said so because he wanted a job of well dig- ing. Well, said he, Mr. B., I will dig this well where I set my stick, and if I do not find first rate water at half the depth, I will charge you nothing for the job. Very well, said I, catching at the suggestion as a relief to my anxiety, al- though I had not a particle of expectation of suc- cess, set to work then. He did so, and at pre- cisely the depth previously indicated, he came to water so pure, that for years afterwards, the citizens for three squares off carried water to their tables from it. The two wells were so near cach other that the earth of the second one dug was thrown into the first. I paid him his bill and added a five dollar note as a present. I never paid money with greater pleasure.
I will conclude the subject for the present with my own experience in the Divining rod. My friend and quondam partner, Joseph Jonas, Esq., called on me to ascertain if I could find water in the Synagogue lot on Broadway, where it was needed for the ritual of their religious services. Having prepared myself, I went, and examin- ing the premises carefully, I found water within two or three feet of the east wall of the house of worship. Here, said I, is abund- ance of water, and judging from indications, I should expect that if a well be dug here, the water will flow over the curb. That, said he, is the very thing we want. It is desirable for the purpose of making it a water of purification, that it should be a running water. I concluded to trace its course beyond the limits of the lot, which was rendered difficult by the built-np condition of the lots to the east. After spend- ing three or more hours in the enterprize, I suc- ceeded in getting outside of the dwelling, and following the course towards Schnetz's Garden, on descending the hill just at its foot, I found it issue in quite a large spring, of whose existence I was ignorant. I have no doubt that if the well had been dug in the Synagogue lot,it would have spoiled the outlet of the spring.
But we need not go to Pennsylvania for facts on this subject. Dr. T., an intelligent physician of North Bend, has had many cases lately of chills and fevers in that vicinity, springing from drawing the water off the canal, during the autumnal seasons. Ilis remedy-and it proves a very successful one-is to tie a string around the right arm and left leg or around the left arm and right leg, just as the chill is about to come on, by which means he succeeds invariably in averting the paroxysm.
I repeat it, what is there in Animal Magnet- ism more wonderful than these things? and, I may add, better attested or more susceptible of being accounted for on natural principles.
Another number will be devoted to Chiro- mancy and its kindred operations, which ] pro- pose to compare with the Neurological and Clairvoyant phenomena.
Review.
Mason's Jurenile Harp. In nothing, scarcely, is the spirit of improvement and change so char- acteristic of the age we live in, more strongly manifested, or more strikingly illustrated than in the world of letters. Formerly, years of scruti . ny and critical examination could alone entitle a work to the honor of being received as a "Standard," on the subject of which it might treat ; and when so received, it could with diffi- culty be displaced by any newer candidate for favor, even in cases where the superiority of the new-comer over its predecessor, was evident to the most superficial observer.
In schools, the very antiquity of "Dilworth ." and "Pike," and "Morse," in Spelling, Arithme- tic, and Geography, were assigned as a reason for the preference entertained in their favor,and the opposition to the earlier class of improved mod- ern works in those studies. But that day has gone by, and as extremes generally meet, the fault now is, that so numerous and so varied are the books that rapidly succeed each other, in every branch of science and education, that teachers and others are puzzled to decide in mak- ing a choice from the number, and are scarcely allowed time to give those selected for use, the trial that is needful to test their merits and pro- nounce upon their claims to be regarded as standard authorities.
This improvement in works designed to con- vey elementary instruction to the mass is prob- ably in nothing more apparent than in those which embrace the science of sacred music. A few years ago, and the "Old Colony," "Bridge- water," "Dyers," and "Cole's, Collections," were standards of musical skill and taste in the east- ern portion of our land; while, beyond the "patent notes" of the "Missouri Harmony," and the "Western Lyre," we, of the West, knew little or nothing of this delightful branch of sci- ence. But a vast revolution has since then ta- ken place, and works alike creditable to the tal- ents and taste of their compilers have multiplied in our midst, till the musical wants of the west, no less than of the east, are now as fully sup. plied are those of any other department of stu- dy. Conspicuous among the Pioneers in this re- form, have long been the Messrs. MASON, and by their various publications devoted to the ad- vancement of sacred music, they have, it is be- lieved contributed more than any others to the improved state of that art in our country.
The JUVENILE HARP, which has just been is- sued in a superior style, by WM. T. TRUMAN, of this city, is designed to take the place, as a mu- sical collection for youth, which has been by general consent assigned to Mason's Sacred Harp, among our collections of church music-a pop- ular compendium of such compositions as will
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please the greatest number. It is a neat vol- ( price of produce. How" exclaimed he, why ume of 208 pages, pocket size, and contains I always thought you was a Whig, Mr. Funk.' 'I am neither Mr. Funk nor a Whig,' said I tes- tily; 'and if you were to look sharp, you would see the difference; Funk wears gold spectacles, and the Democracy carry the gold. when they have any, in their pockets. Good bye.' 140 songs, suitable for juvenile singers, compris- ing in one volume most of the best composi- tions of that class, which previously were scal- tered through several separate publications .- From a cursory examination of the book, the music appears to be well arraigned & judicious- ly selected, the only fault which is noticed be- Wood County, Ohio. ing the insertion of a few pieces of little merit, I have to acknowledge the receipt of two notes, giving the desired information to my que- ry in last Advertiser as to the etymology of Wood, one of the counties in Ohio, one of which, DEAR SIR : the fullest, follows: apparently written for the occasion, and inserted to fill out the desired number of pages. But there is quite enough of that which is really good, to make the work fully worth its cost 816461 to the purchaser.
Street Perplexities.
I have already stated that I have frequently been mistaken for Jonalı Martin, having once got a dinner on his account for coffee- house ser- vices in a case where he advocated the license and I opposed it. The story is in the Adverti- ser of the 2nd inst. One of the richest circum- stances in the case I was not made aware of, un- til a few days since. The proprietors of the Hotel did not find out the mistake, although six years had passed, until they read that narrative.
Some few weeks ago, I had business over the canal, and fell into a conversation with one of my German acquaintances there, which was commenced in that language by myself, know- ing that the individual spoke English with diffi- culty. After keeping it up for some ten min- ntes, we were about to part, when my friend remarked, slapping me on the shoulder, -"Well Mr. Martin, so long I knows you, I neffer know you talk Detch pefore." "I cant speak Ger- man very well," said I, "and, may be, next time we meet, you cant get me to speak it at all. It is just as I feel in the humor." I said this, in hopes that on his next meeting with Jo- nah, that he would insist on his speaking Ger- man again.
But it is not my only difficulty that I am mis- taken for Martin, as I am not unfrequently ac- costed as Mr. Funk, which leads into more se- rious perplexities, of which the following may serve as a specimen :
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