USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > The Cincinnati miscellany, or, Antiquities of the West, and pioneer history and general and local statistics. Volume II > Part 14
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You will as expeditiously as possible, order to this place such a number of men from your com- mand, with a due proportion of officers, as ad- ded to the number already sent, will make five hundred men. It is all important that beef cat" tle should be forwarded to this place with as much expedition as possible-you will use ev- ery exertion to forward them, and take care that they are furnished with suitable escorts from the troops under your command .
I am with great regard, , your humble servant, WM. HENRY HARRISON.
Major Gen . JOHN S. GANO,
L. Sandusky.
Head Quarters, Buffalo, Oct. 25th, 1813. DEAR SIR:
I arrived here yesterday with a de- tachment of the army, and will proceed imme- diately to Fort George. Nothing of consequence had taken place, when the last accounts came from Gen. Wilkinson's army. He has certain- ly however, before this, entered Canada at the head of a very large force which he had assem- bled at, and in the neighborhood of, Sackett's Harbour.
There was a man by the name of Crandall, in custody at Lower Sandusky, on suspicion of be- ing a spy-there is no positive proof against him; be pleased therefore to release him. I will thank you also to deliver the three Mingo or Delaware Indians which you have in your possession to the Delaware Chief, Anderson, who has pro- mised to to be responsible for their good be- haviour. Indeed I believe that they never in- tended any harm. If Anderson has returned home, you can send them to him, or to Mr. John- ston at Piqua.
Yours very respectfully,
WM. HENRY HARRISON. Major Gen. GANO.
Upper Sandusky, Nov. 4th, 1813. SIR :
Major Thompson informed me this morn- ing, that you were much in want of forage at Lower Sandusky. I expected a supply would have been sent from Cleaveland some time since, and am astonished that it has not come on. Capt. Reed; the Quarter Master at that post, wrote me about the 15th ult., that he would in a few days send on a supply. I have not at this time one team to command, all the public teams fit for service, being in advance. Four private teams came in this morning with oats; I offered them two dollars per bushel to go on to Lower San- dusky, but they refused ; I would have impres- sed them, but they were so poor and weak they would not have been able to get through. The fact is the roads are impassable for loaded wag- gons. A brigade of ox-teams were about six days getting from here to Fort Ball, where find- ing it impracticable to proceed, they deposited their load and returned, after having left a num- ber of their oxen on the way, and this not in consequence of mismanagement or neglect of the wagon master, but in consequence of the ex- treme badness of the roads, and the worn out situation of his oxcn.
Capt. Catterlin favored me with a copy of your general order of the 16th ult, relative to having the roads repaired by the troops, stationed at the different Garrisons, which 1 enclosed to the commanding officer at Fort McArthur, at the same time urging the necessity of his detailing a part of his company to open the road from that to this post immediately. Mr. Smith, the com- mander at that post wrote me, that the Cap- tain and Lieutenant, and a number of the men had gone home sick, and that the ensign, did not think proper to comply with the requisition. This information I requested Capt. Oliver to give you.
By the first wagons I will send you a small supply of grain, if you should not get it from Cleveland, every exertion has been made to get a stock on hand here for the winter, but the heavy draft made on it by Gov. Shelby has left us but little ; it was always contemplated to sup- ply the post at Lower Sandusky from the settle- ments on the Lake.
I will send the blacksmith (Piatt) on to-mor- row or the day after. The flour &c. left at Fort Ball shall be taken on as soon as teams can be had to do it. Major Thompson informs me that the commandant at Seneca has sent a corporal and six men to guard it until it can be removed.
With great respect, Your obedient servant, B. HUGHES, Maj. Gen. J. S. GANO, Lower Sandusky.
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A Legend of Kentucky.
Sixty-three years have passed away since the disastrous battle of the Blue Licks, where Ken- tucky valor was betrayed by its characteristic impetuosity into the ambush of the savages, and the most gallant settlers of the west, became the victims of Indian barbarity. Hardly a fam- ily in the settlements eseaped the loss of one or more valuable members. Cols. Todd and Trigg, Lieutenant Boone-son of Daniel Boone, and more lamented than any other one, the noble spirited Capt. Harland, with numbers of less note, fell in that bloody field. No adequate idea can now be formed of the grief aud desponden- cy which followed the catastrophe of that unfor- tunate day.
On the long roll of the reported slain were the names of a few, who had in fact been cap. tured, and after surviving the ordeal of the gauntlet had been permitted to live as captives. Among these was an excellent husband and fa- ther, who, with eleven other captives, had been taken by a tribe, painted black, as the signal of torture and death to all. The night after the battle these twelve prisoners were stripped and placed in a line on a log, lie to whom we have specially alluded being at one extremity of the devoted row.
The cruel captors, then beginning at the oth- er end, slaughtered eleven, one by one,; but when they came to the only survivor, though they raised him up also and drew their bloody knives to strike under each uplifted arm, they paused, and after a long powwow, spared his life-why, he never knew. For about one year none of his friends, excepting his faithful wife, doubted his death; she, hoping against reason, still insisted that he lived and would return to her. Wooed by another, she from time to time postponed the nuptials, declaring that she could not divest herself of the belief that her hus- band survived. Her expostulating friends final- ly succeeded in their efforts to stifle her affec- tionate instinct; she reluctantly yielded, and the nuptial day was fixed. But just before it dawned, the crack of a rifle was heard near her lonely cabin; at the familiar sound slie leap- ed out like a liberated fawn, ejaculating as she sprang, "that John's gun!" It was John's gun, sure enough, and in an instant she was once more in her lost husband's arms. But nine years afterwards, that same husband fell in "St. Clair's defeat," and the same disappointed but persevering lover renewed his suit, and at last thic widow became his wife.
Total abstinence testimony.
Indisputable and valuable as are the direct benefits of the modern Temperance movement,
the indirect effects are hardly less so. It is not merely that confirmed inebriates have been res- cued from wretchedness and disgrace, and their families saved from want, but individuals are in various ways withdrawn from the fascinating in- fluence of convivality before habitual drinking has created an appetite which can no longer be restrained within bounds. Fifty years ago, it was as much a matter of course to invite a guest to take a glass of wine, or brandy, or whisky, as to offer a plate at the dinner table. The fol- lowing document from the pen of WILLIAM EA- TON, in early life & subaltern in Wayne's army, and holding in later years, a General's com- mission in the United States service, affords a striking because a condensed view of the ef- fects of such customs.
AN INSTRUCTIVE RECORD .-- In August, 1793, a court martial was convened on the spot where Cincinnati now stands, by order of General St. Clair, for the trial of one ensign Morgan; who was found guilty and cashiered. Three years thereafter, the late Gen. WM. EATON, (a mem- ber of the court,) then consul to Tunis, thus re- corded the fate of his associates :
Brig. Gen. POSEY
Resigned and dead.
Major D. : H.
Damned by brandy. Dead per do.
Capt. P.
P.
Dead.
EATON,
At Tunis.
.6
P.
Damned by brandy.
66 M.
Dead.
66 F.
Dead.
Dead.
.6
P. J."
Damned by brandy.
C.
Killed.
Eaton's own fate, although delayed, was seal- ed by the same habits. He died in 1811, con- firmed in intemperance.
Among orders filed away in 1792, by a mer- chant of that period. and now lying on my table, the whole number being twelve, ten are for spirituous liquors, as follows : "Twenty Gallons whiskey,-half a gallon cogn eac -- ten gallons whiskey -- three gallons whiskey-one gallon madeira -- two gallons cogneac -- whiskey-whis- key-whiskey -- whiskey. These were all for officers in the United States army. Some of whose initials correspond with Eaton's list.
Howard, the Philanthropist.
He was a singular being in many of the coll- mon liabits of life ; he bathed daily in cold water ; and both on rising and going to bed swathed himself in coarse towels, wet with the coldest water; in that state he remained half an hour or more, and then threw them off, freshiened and invigorated as ho said, beyond mea8- ure. Hle never put on a great coat in the
.6
70
coldest countries; nor was hc ever a minute un- der or over the time of an appointment for 26 years. He never continued at a place, or with a person a single day beyond the period prefixed for going, in his life; and he had not, for the last ten years of his experience, ate any fish, flesh or fowl, nor sat down to his simple fare of tea, milk, and rusks, all that time. flis jour- ncys were continued from prison to prison ; from one group of wretched beings to another, night and day ; and when he could not go in a car- riage he would walk. Such a thing as an ab- straction was out of the question.
Some days after his first return from an at- tempt to mitigate the plague at Constantinople, he favored me with a morning visit to London. The weather was so very terrific, that I had forgot his invecerate cxactness, and had yielded up the hope of expecting him. Twelve at noon was the hour, and exactly as the clock struck, he entered my room; the wet-for it rained in torrents, dripping from every part of his dress, like water from a sheep just landed from its washing. He would not have attended to his situation, having sat himself down with the ut- most composure, and began conversation, had I not made an offer of dry clothes. 'Yes,' said hc, smiling, 'I had my fears, as I knocked at your door, that we should go over the old business of apprehension about a little rain water, which though it does not run off my back as it does that of a duck, does me as little injury, and af- ter a long drought is scarcely less refreshing .- The eoat that I have on has been as often wet- ted through as any duck's in the world, and in- decd gets no other cleaning. I assure you, a good soaking shower is the best brush for broad- cloth. You, like the rest of my friends, throw away your pity upon my supposed hardships, with just as much reason as you commiserate the common beggars, who being familiar with storms, necessity, and nakedness, are a thou- sand times (so forcible is habit) less to be com- passionated than the sons and daughters of ease and luxury, who, accustomed to all the enfeeb- ling refinements of feathers by night and fires by day, are tanght to shiver at a breeze. All this is the work of art, my good friend; nature is intrc- pid, hardy, and adventurous ; but it is a practice to spoil her with indulgences from the moment we come into the world. A soft dress and soft cradle begin our education in luxury, and we do not grow more inanly the more we are grat- ified; on the contrary, our feet must be wrapt in wool or silk, we must tread upon carpets, breathe, as it were, in fire, and fear the least change in the weather. 'You smile,' said Mr. Howard, after a pause, 'but 1 am a living in- stance of the truth I insist on. A more puny youngster than myself was never seen, If I wet my feet I was sure to take a cold. I could not put on my shirt without its being aired. To be serious, I am convinced that what emasculates the body debilitates the mind, and renders both unfit for those exertions which are of such use to us social beings. I therefore entered upon a re- form of my constitution, and have succeeded in such a degree that I have neither had a cough, cold, the vapors, nor any more alarmning disor- der, since I surmounted the seasoning. Former- ly mulled wines, and spirits, and great fires, were to comfort me, and to keep out the cold, as it is called; the perils of the day were to be bafled by something taken hot on going to
bed, and before I pursued my journey the next morning, a dram was to be swallowed to fortify the stomach ! 'Believe me,' said Mr. Howard, 'we are too apt to invert the remedies which we ought to prescribe for ourselves. Thus we are forever giving hot things when we should administer cold. We bathe in hot instead of cold water, we use a dry bandage when we should usc a wet one, and we increase our food and clothing, when we should, by degrees, di- minish both.' 'If we would trust inore to na- ture, and suffer her to apply her own remedies to cure her own diseases, the formidable cata logue of maladies would be reduced to one-half, at least, of their present number.'-Pratt's Gleanings.
-The Rev. Sydney Smith had a talent for dressing salad as well as repudiators. See his poetical recipe, so pat :
Recipe for Dressing Salad.
BY THE REV. SYDNEY SMITH. Two large potatoes passed through kitchen sieve, Smoothness and softness to the salad give; Of mordant mustard add a single spoon --- Distrust the condiment that bites too soon --- But deem it not, thou man of herbs, a fault, To add a double quantity of salt ;
Four times the spoon with oil of Lucca crown, And twice with vinegar procured from town; Truc flavor needs it, and your poct begs, The pounded yellow of two well boiled eggs. Let onions' atoms lurk within the bowl, And, lastly, in the flavored compound toss A magic spoonful of anehovy sauce, O! great and glorious : O! herbacious treat ! 'Twould tempt the dying anchorite to eat. Back to the world he'd turn his weary soul, And plunge his fingers in the salad bowl .
Lightning Rods.
As the summer advances, I feel it my duty to call public attention to providing lightning rods to our various buildings, public and private .- Probably there are not one in twenty of the edi- fices in Cincinnati protected by these impor. tant preservatives.
This may be ascribed partly to the general disposition in mankind to undervalue dangers which are not immediately at hand, and to neg- lect, therefore, proper precautionary measures, but is principally owing to the fact, that there has hitherto been no person here engaged in the manufacture, and putting up of electric rods as a distinct business. Mr. J. SPRATT, I observe by his advertisement to that effect, has gone in- to that business, and puts up conductors at the extremely low price of ten cents per running foot, which will enable most persous to have themselves protected from lightning, at an ex- pense not exceeding five dollars to a building. Mr. Spratt has abandonod the insecure and in- efficient plan of linking iron joints, and con- nects his rods by screwing onc length into ano- ther which preserves the connecting parts, from oxydation, and the building from the injury which must result from that circumstance.
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Marriage Licenses.
A statement of Marriage Licences issued by Arthur St. Clair, Gov. to wit.
1795.
Nov. 14th, Isaac Bates and Nancy Duvall.
66 16th, John Smith and Plebe Van Nuys. 1796.
Feb. 9th, Robt. Mitchell and Frances Cox.
21st, Miles Morfoot and Mary Alter.
66 22nd, Wm. Sloan and Elizabeth Pricket.
66 24th, Stephen Wood and Cath. Freeman.
66 25th, Ian Gregarach and Temperance Young.
April 10th, Daniel Symmes, Esq. and Elizabeth Oliver.
May 9th, Nichs. Johnston and Sarah Ferris. 66 10th, Geo. Morfoot and Ruth Lowry.
Seites for Country Seats.
I cannot understand why it is, that while city lots command a higher price here than at Pitts- burgh, that scites for country seats are much more expensive in that neighborhood than at an equal distance from Cincinnati. I have under my notice several desirable spots for the pur- pose around our city, of which I shall refer to one merely, and to that, principally, because it is in the market. Six miles west upon the Chevi- ot road, a macadamised public road, and with- in a short distance of that place, is a ten acre lot. It lies beautifully. faces the South and is susceptible of being made a country seat, such as can hardly be seen outside of the val- ley of the Miami. Such a spot at an equal dis- tance from Pittsburgh, and possessing equal nat- ural advantages, could hardly be bought there for less than 300 dollars per acre, and this whole tract is offered for 1200 dollars.
The solution of the difficulty I referod to is probably that much of the immediate adjacency of Pittsburgh is composed of hills, too high for pleasant or convenient residences, and that the business parts of the city are too restricted in space, to allow of residences there, to the extent they exist here.
Our City Solons.
At the adjourned meeting of the city council on Friday evening, a debate sprung up on a proposition that B. F. Greenough, who is sup- plying a portion of the city with light by cam- phine, or chemical oil, be allowed to take back his lamps, in other words, that the existing ar- rangement with him should terminate.
Great complaints were made by members on the subject of the lamps. One member alleged that he could not walk the streets in peace on account of the various objections made by his
constituents. Mr. Decamp said that Greenough appeared disposed to do as he pleased with the . lights, lighting and putting out as he pleased .- Some of them burned by night, and some by day, and some were not lighted at all, the light going out as soon as the lamp-lighter left them.
The whole secret of the business seemed to be, that Mr. Greenough furnished lamps which were not adapted to the burning any other kind of oil, and thus compelled the use of the cam- phine. Finally Mr. Greenough was directed to take back his lamps by a vote of 13 to 7.
Some interesting facts were developed in the discussion of a motion made by Mr. Meader, to equalise the compensation of the wood meas- urer at the Fifth street market, and those at the river. It seems conceded that 46 feet wood at the river measure 58 feet at Fifth street market, and that what was a cord of wood at the land- ings becomes a cord and a quarter after being drawn up hill. This is equal to the ancient process in Cincinnati of killing cattle for the fifth quarter i. e. the hide and tallow; or the coin . age here in 1806 of quarter dollars by dividing a spanish dollar into five equal parts, the fifth paying the sopense of the Mint.
S. B. Star Spangled Banner.
The building of the Steamboat Yorktown, a few months since, has formed an era in steam boat architecture, and nearly all the vessels since built are indebted to that splendid boat, more or less, as a model, in which they have gained nothing by departing from its proportions or arrangements, so far as it has been done. In the opinion I thus express, my judgment and taste are amply sustained by professional men fitter qualified to decide on such subjects than I pretend to be.
Our latest specimen of modern boat-building the STAR SPANGLED BANNER, left our city the be- ginning of the week. I subjoin her measure- ments and specifications.
Hull built by Litherbury & Lockwood. Joiner work, Robert Caufield. Engine builder ; James Goodloc. Length, 183 feet. Breadth of beam, 31 feet. Water wheels, 27 feet in diameter; length of buckets, 10 feet, and 28 inches wide. Hold 7 feet 9 inches, She has four boilers 28 feet in length, 42 inches diameter, double en- gines, and two 24 inch cylinders, with 9 feet stroke. She draws 4 feet water light, and hard. ly more than 8 feet with 500 tons, her full cargo. She has 36 state rooms, and of course 72 berths, all appropriated to cabin passengers, the boat officers being provided with state rooms in the pilot house. This arrangement affords the offi- cers an opportunity to attend to their appropri- ate duties without the annoyance and interfer-
12
ance of others, and dispensing with the nuis- | ance of a SOCIAL HALL, protects the gentlemen, and especially the ladies on board, from the ef- fluvia of cigars, which ordinarily taints the whole range of the cabins. As respects the berths, I notice as an improvement, that the lower berth projects over the line of the upper one, in this respect affording facilities for reach- ing the higher range without the usual incon- venience. The cabin seats are armed chairs, two feet in breadth, which supply a degree of comfort and protection to the aged or the inva- lid in assigning them space at the dinner table, which cannot be encroached on, and enabling them to take their meals as pleasantly as at home .
The Star spangled Banner, is in short built for convenience, comfort and speed, and I doubt not will prove a popular boat in the New Or- Jeans trade for which she is designed. A speedy return with full freight and passengers to our public landing will I trust, justify all I expect, from the business capacities of the boat.
Her engines built by J. Goodloe, judging by her trial trip on last Thursday, work with un- surpassed ease and efficiency, and are highly creditable to the shop where made.
The Star spangled Banner is owned by Rich- ard Phillips & Elmore Bateman, who are also Captain and clerk to the boat.
Tricks of the Trade.
Great Bargains! Immense Sacrifices! Selling out at cost! Selling out at 25 per cent. below cost! These are notices to be found occasionally pla- carded over the windows and adjoining the doors of certain dry goods houses in Cincinnati, as profusely as space permits, to catch the eye and clean the pockets of a class of customers who are not up to the tricks of trade.
In all this, however, if we examine the sub- ject, there is no deception on the part of the sel- lers. "Selling off at cost", and at 25 per cent be- low cost are modifications of the same thing, the article being sold at the purchaser's cost or expense, varying never less than 25 per cent ad- vance from what it can be bought at regular hous- es. This also explains the "immense sacrifice" which is what the buyer, not' the seller loses .- As to the "bargains," if we look to the deriva- tion of the word-bar-gains, -- there is no decep- tion also, the word itself expressing the idea of barring or excluding profits or advantages.
Occasionally, however, the seller finds in the purchaser a nut too hard for his jaws to crack . Not long since a couple of hoosiers stopped into a store on Fifth street, which held out the usual bait, "Goods for sale, 25 per cent below cost." One of these supplied himself with a coat pat- for the portraits which he had obliterated.
tern, a piece domestic sheeting, calicoes, &c. taking care to inquire, "what does this cost ?" article by article as he bought. His bill being made out amounted to 20 dollars. He made up a bundle of the goods, by tying them in a large handkerchief, and opening a leather pouch, counted out and handed over fifteen dollars in payment. "Five dollars more if you please," said the storekeeper, as he found no more shel- ling out, and bowing politely. "Five dollars more," said the hoosier. I guess you have got your full pay, when you take the 25 per cent off." The storekeeper tried to explain, but to no purpose. "Did you not tell me what these things cost?" "Yes." "Well, where is the 25 per cent less, or discount? The dry goods man with his clerks blustered and threatened very hard, but it was no go. The hoosiers were pre- pared for action, either at a magistrate's office or on the spot, and marched off finally, carrying their point.
City building operations.
Our city building operations for the last week or two have been partially checked by exces- sively hot weather, and are delayed now by the diminishing supply of materials. Shingles have advanced fifty per cent, and in the article bricks the demand and consumption has taken up the whole supply. At this time last year there were ten millions of bricks on hand. Now there are none in market, the current manufacture being required to fill existing engagements. A much larger quantity of bricks has been laid, up to the 15th July last, than for the corresponding period of the past year, so that there can be no doubt our erections of 1845 will equal those of 1844.
Portrait Painting.
A portrait painter in large practice might write a pretty book on the vanity and singular- ity of his sitters. A certain man came to Cop- ley, and had himself, his wife, and seven chil- dren,all included in a family piece.
'It wants but one thing,' said, 'and that is the portrait of my first wife, for this one is my sec- ond.›
'But,' said the artist, 'she is dead, you know sir; what can I do? She must come in as a woman; no angels for me.'
The portrait was added, but some time elap- sed before the person came back; when he re- turned, he had a stranger lady on his arm.
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