USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > The Cincinnati miscellany, or, Antiquities of the West, and pioneer history and general and local statistics. Volume II > Part 20
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N. B. When not supplied with orders for the above article the machinery will be employed in manufacturing a very superior article of Batting from clean cotton, which article can be had at all times in quantities to suit, and at the right price, of A YANKEE.
Commission.
THE SEAL OF THE TERRITO- RY OF THE U.S. N. W. OF THE RIVER OHIO.
By His Excellency, Arthur St. Clair, Esq., Governor and Com- mander in Chief of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio, to Benjamin Perle, Greeting.
You being appointed an Ensign in the First Regiment of Hamilton County Militia, by virtue of the Power vested in me, I do by these presents (reposing special trust and confidence in your Loyalty, Courage and good Conduct) commis- sion you accordingly .- You are therefore care- fully and diligently to discharge the duty of an Ensign in leading, ordering and exercising said Regiment in Arms, both inferior Officers and Soldiers; and to keep them in good Order and Discipline: And they are hereby commanded to
obey you as their Ensign, and you are yourself to observe and follow such Orders and Instructions as you shall from Time to Time receive from me or your superior Officers.
Given under my hand, and the Seal of the said Territory of the United States, the 21st day of August, in the Year of our Lord 1798, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the twen- ty-third.
By His Excellency's Command,
WM. HENRY HARRISON, Secretary.
Statistics.
It is remarkable how much worthless informa- tion goes the rounds of the press, when the exer- cise of a moment's reflection would detect its character. This is the business of the editor, --- if he be too lazy or too incompetent to do so, his readers will hardly take the pains.
Our fellow citizen, Nicholas Longworth, is stated in several of our city papers to have made 500 bbls native wine this season. If these edi- tors had known or knowing the fact had remem- bered it, that the season of pressing grapes had not yet arrived, this statement would hardly have been made. Mr. Longworth's wine, be the quantity what it may, will not be barreled for weeks to come.
CORRESPONDENCE.
The Calla Ethiopica.
Mr. Cist .- In your paper of last week there appeared some remarks on the Calla Ethiopica, wherein Mr. Pancoast remarked it was a native of Pennsylvania, or to that effect. If the plant alluded to be the Calla, Mr. Pancoast is much mistaken; and I presume Mr. Schnetz is a man not likely to palm on the public a native plant for that of foreign origin. The Calla Ethiopica is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, throwing up a stem two to three feet high, depending on
the age of the plant. The flower is singularly formed of one whorl or vasc-like calyx of pure white, in the spring. The leaf is arrow-shaped; the root, perennial and tender, will not bear the least frost, consequently cannot be a native of hist country. This plant may stand out all the winter in the south, if planted in the mud two' or three feet below the surface of the water: as the root would then be sufficiently protected from frost. This plant is too generally cultivated with the lover of flowers in this part to know that it re- quires the warmth of a room to protect it through the winter, and may be considered a green-house plant. T. WINTER.
August 16, 1845.
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CORRESPONDENCE.
Recollections of Harmar's Campaign.
MR. C. CIST:
Dear Sir .- I forward you, as I promised, my recollections of the incidents connected with Har- mar's Campaign, which fell under my observa- tion, or in which I bore a part.
General Harmar marched his army from Fort Washington, if I recollect right, the last week of September, 1790. His expedition was designed against the Indian towns on the St. Joseph, or Maumee, near where Fort Wayne was afterwards built. The army followed the trace made be Gen. Geo. R. Clarke with the Kentucky troops, in October, 1782, as far as the Piqua towns, on both sides of the Great Miami, which were de- stroyed by him on that visit. Thence we had a tolerable Indian trace to where there had been a large trading establishment, St. Mary's, from which we had a good Indian trace to our final object, which was sixty-four miles from there into the wilderness.
There were, perhaps, one hundred and thirty of the Kentucky militia mounted and armed: one third of that force with swords and pistols, the balance with rifles. They were remarkably use- ful in that campaign, being found active and ef- ficient in hunting up pack-horses or beef cattle, which were apt to stray off after night, scouring the woods for the purpose, and sometimes rousing from their concealment Indians who were watch- ing our movements. On account of these servi- ces they were exempt from camp duty at night.
When the army got within thirty or forty miles of the Indian towns for which we were marching, there were ten or twelve of thesc mounted men sent out in search of some pack-horses that had been lost over night. They started a smart young Indian, took him prisoner, brought him into camp, where he was examined by two of the Kentucki- ans, who understood the Indian language. He spoke freely, and told all he knew respecting the movements of his people, saying that they had at first intended to make a stand and defend their towns; but after holding a council, gave up the idea, and had moved their families and property down the river, intending to burn their wigwams. When the army arrived they found all his state- ments true.
Two days after the army reached the Indian towns, orders were given to draft four hundred men from the different companies, with a view to send them out and see what discoveries they could make respecting the enemy. They were to draw two days provisions, and to be out over night.
About twenty of the mounted men, and, per- haps, half a dozen footmen volunteercd to go along. I was one of these last. The detachment 14
crossed the St. Joseph where the centre of the town stood ; struck a trace on the west bank that led a west course, and followed it within one mile of the river. On the route the mounted men started two Indians and shot them both; lost one man ourselves. Pursued the trace till sunset, and found evident signs, though much scattered, of Indians. None of them appeared fresh. About sunset the six pounder in camp was fired. Col. Trotter, of Lexington, Ky., who had the com -. mand of the detachment, concluded this was a signal for our recall, and countermarching we got into camp a little after dark. The next day's tour we werc placed under the command of Col. Hardin, we crossed the river where we did the day before, and struck a good Indian trace a short distance from the river, directly north; after fol- lowing it four or five miles, we found considera- ble of fresh signs of savages. Two or three In- dian dogs got in among the troops, which disap- peared again shortly, discovering that they were not among their masters.
The Colonel ordered a halt, directing the diffe- rent companics to station themselves on the right and left of the trace, and keep a sharp lookout. Our company went round the point of a brushy grove, which threw us out of sight of the trace, thongh not far from it. The Colonel sent Maj. Fountain, with eight or ten mounted men, to re- connoitre. After travelling a short distance on that trace, they came to where it crossed a small stream of water, which, being muddy on each side, pointed out plainly the fresh tracks of Indi- ans who had been making a hasty retreat, with a view of drawing the detachment into an am- buscade. The Major returned, and reported ac- cordingly. Colonel Hardin was so keen for pur- suit, that he started off with the principal part of the troops in such a hurry, that he forgot to give us any orders. After waiting awhile we becaine impatient, struck the trace, and finding they were gone, followed on. We had not gone far, however, until we met Major Fountain, and Cap- tain Faulkner, having explained that we had been directed to lialt until we should get orders to march, we pressed forward to overtake the main body of our comrades.
In a short time we met two of the mounted men at full speed, cach having a wounded man behind him. " Retreat," said they, " for God's sake! There are Indians enough to eat us all np." We proceeded on, however, till we liad gained a high swell of ground, when we saw our troops putting back upon the trace-the Indians in pursuit, yelling and shooting. We halted, formed a line across the trace, and trecd, with a view to give them a shot. They came within seventy or eighty yards of ns, when they halted instantly. I expect the reason was Col. Hardin.
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Hall, Fountain, and four or five others were on | Fountain, with a few mounted men in front. horseback close by where we were. We' remain- ed there until the retreating troops had all passed by, none of whom lialted with us except the men on horseback. We covered their retreat, and marelied into eamp a short time after dark, under the direction of Cols. Hardin and Hall. The six pounder was discharged every hour till daylight, as a signal for the benefit of the stragglers, of which several came in that night.
Having been acquainted with Col. Hall in Bourbon County, Kentucky, and knowing he was near the front, I went to his tent next morning, to learn what liad been the move- ments in front on the day before. He stated that the trace passed through a narrow prairie with a heavy growth of timber and underbrush on each side. At the far end it entered into a thiek growth of timber. At this spot within a few feet of the trace, the enemy had kindled up a fire. Here the advance halted as soon as they came up, and just at this moment the Indians rose from their eoverts on the prairie sides, and poured in a deadly fire so sudden and unexpected that it threw our troops into a confusion, from which they could not be rallied, and it was on their retreat, we being within a short distance of that prairie path, that we protected their right about movement, as I have already stated.
The army lay some days encamped, after Hardin's detachment had been thus defeated, when preparations were made for our return to Fort Washington, after destroying all the pro- perty of the enemy within reach. The first day the army marched about five miles, leaving a party of three or four mounted men with an offi- cer on a commanding piece of ground to observe if the Indians should make their appearance and offer signs of pursuit. About two hours after the army had disappeared, the Indians began to come in by droves, hunting for hid provisions, as they had large quantities put up in that way. On learning this late in the evening, from the party left behind to watch their movements, Col. IIar- din was keen to have another brush with the sa- vages. A draft of four hundred men was accord- ingly made and placed under his command, in the calculation to surprise them before daylight. The detachment marched back to the post where this offieer with his party had been stationed, when, taking to the left hand, Col. Hardin cross- ed the St. Mary's near its junetion with the St. Joseph's, and pushed forward up the west bank of that river towards the Indian town built there. He was followed by Majors Fountain, M'Millan, and Wyllys. Harmar's trace crossed the Maumee River at Harmar's ford. As soon as the river was passed the town was in sight. The day was just dawning as the troops moved on, Major
As they turned the point of a hazel thicket, and at a few rods distance, fifteen or twenty Indians were discovered around a fire. The Major char- ged right in among them, fired both liis pistols, and then drew his sword; but, ten or twelve of the savages, at the time not more than as inany feet off, discharged their rifles at him. One of the soldiers, George Adams by name, being close by fired on them and received four or five flesh wounds by a volley in return. Wyllys and M. Mil- lan, with a small party of regulars, finally suc- eceded in drawing them into the river. Fountain although wounded in several places, and survi- ving but a few minutes, yet hung to his saddle. Our men took him off, and buried him under the side of a log, or under a bank, and Adams rode the horse in. When Wyllys, with the regulars, was driving the savages into the river, Hardin met them on the other side, but was compelled by inferiority of foree to retire. There were inany Indians killed in the skirinish of the second day; and if we had had a few more troops detach- ed from Harmar's command, of those who were not wanted in camp, the enemy would have re- eeived the worst drubbing they ever got from the whites; as it was, they lost more men than they ever lost before in any one of our western battles. Majors Fountain and Wyllys were both killed, with other officers of inferior rank. Major M'Mil- lan collected the seattering troops and remained on the ground until all the Indians had disap- peared, and then marched into camp, which he reached before sunset.
Next morning General Harmar sent Captains Wells and Gaines, both of the Kentucky troops, as an express to Fort Washington. When they reached the bottomns of the Big Miami, at a short turn of the traee they were following, they met five Indians very unexpectedly. On the instant, Gaines wheeled to the left and Wells to the right and by the promptness of the movement saved their lives. They both made a wide eireuit ;- Wells got to the mouth of the Miami, and Gaines struek the river where Ripley now stands. The army, however, reached Fort Washington before either Gaines or Wells.
I knew Jacob Fowler and Ellison Williams. They were both good woodsmen and hunters. Fowler was in St. Clair's campaign, in the com- missary or quarter-master's department. He had a friend, a Captain Piatt, who was killed at St. Clair's defeat. He had also a brother killed by the Indians, within a mile or two of Hamilton, while we were out on St. Clair's expedition. Williams, I believe, was in neither Harmar's nor St. Clair's campaigns. .
I would be glad to have a chat with your friend John Bush. There is no doubt we could reeol-
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lect many other incidents that took place in Har- mar's campaign, if we had a chance of comparing notes.
The Indian prisoner, to whom I referred in the early part of this letter, was taken to Fort Washington, although afterwards sent home.
Yours, THOMAS IRWIN.
Blue Bell, Butler County, Ohio, August 23, 1845.
Wholesomeness of Fruit.
Such is the cheapness of meat in the United States, as compared with European countries, that the emigrants to America have acquired a taste for the indulgence, which they have trans- mitted to their descendants, until we have be- come the most carniverous nation on the globe. Perhaps I ought to except the Feejee islanders, whose principal food is the bodies of their ene- mies, captured or slain in battle.
I entertain great doubts of the wholesomeness of any diet, in which meat forms the largest share; and as I have all my life enjoyed an un- common degree of good health, I must impute it to the great extent to which vegetable food enters into my entire sustenance. Lest I be misunder- stood on this point, let me state briefly and ex- plicitly, that I refer to bread and fruits.
My family of eleven persons consumes a bar- rel of flour every twenty days. One half my marketing is fruit, which I buy of the best qua- lity and fully ripe.
There is no finer climate in the world for fruit than our own country, and the west surpasses the east in quality and productiveness, as far as our Atlantic region transcends Europe. France, Spain, Italy, and the Levant, furnish figs and grapes of a finer quality than ours ; but our peaches, pears, and plums, taking quality and quantity together, surpass those of any other section of the world. As to apples, our middle states, from western Pennsylvania and Virginia to Indiana inclusive, raise finer and more abun- dantly than any where on the face of the globe. Of this region Ohio takes the lead, and in a few years will be obliged to export her surplus of the article.
I am not opposed to the moderate use of meat, but recommend by my own experience, as a pre; servative of health, a free use of fruit, always to be procured ripe. When grapes shall have be- come more abundant in our markets, as they soon must under their general culture, they ought to form a regular [dish on [the breakfast table.
Modern Poetry.
" The world is full of Poetry. The air Is living with its spirit; and the waves Dance to the music of its melodies And sparkle in its brightness. Earth is veiled And mantled in its beauty."
I remember when a man could read poetry, without danger of being decoyed into reading mere advertisements. But having grown wiser, I read nothing now-a-days, as the city council, ordinances, by the title. The pith or point of an article must be discovered these times, as the epigram once was, by the closing line. The sub- joined article was my latest take in.
Rescued Treasure.
The spirits of the storm were out, Red lightnings rent the murky air, And the tornado's battle shout Had roused old Ocean from his lair. High on a ridge of serried rocks A gallaut frigate lay impaled, Reeling before the wild waves shocks, While Death the trembling seamen hailed, He hailed them in the breaker's roar,
He hailed them in the shrieking blast, He hailed them when the tempest tore
From the bruised hulk the broken mast.
And one by one they leaped and sank Into old Ocean's boiling breast,
Till all save one the cup had drank, That lulled them to eternal rest.
Boldly the last survivor springs, Strongly he struggles toward the land,
Till a gigantic billow flings Your frigate's Captain on the strand.
One treasure still his hand retains,
That wind nor wave could make him drop; And tightly every finger strains
On Chapman's Magic Razor Strop!
Numismatology.
MONOGRAPH OF THE DOLLAR : By J. L. RIDDELL, M. D., of the New Orleans Mint. 8vo. pp. 504. Ste- reotyped and printed by E. Shepard, 1845.
This is a remarkable work, in which the curi- ous and rare are blended in due proportion with the practical and every day business of life. We have all heard of the almighty dollar. Here is the whole history of its whole family over the globe. The author is melter and refiner in the Branch Mint, New Orleans, and Professor of Chemistry in the Medical College of Louisiana .. It may readily be imagined that he is therefore thoroughly qualified for treating properly, the subjects on which he writes.
This book presents impressions of every emis- sion of dollars which have been coined in the va- rious mints of the world, duly classified, with a corresponding arrangement of their counter-
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feits, embracing specimens of all the various imi- { dignitaries, who directed his servant to give the tations which are spread over the United States applicant a crust of bread. The half famished wretch devoured it on the spot. Emboldened by the favour, he asked for other assistance. and perhaps other countries. The variations of the genuine are 147, of the counterfeits 277. Of these 62 of the genuine, and 242 of the counter- " Pity a poor man your worship." feits, are of Mexican dollars alone. What a sa- " Poor," cxclaimed his worship, " I would give five guincas for your appetite." tire on human nature ! 242 counterfeiting cs- tablishments in the United States ! !
The book is replete with a great variety of knowledge, at once full and exact in its details, affording every variety of information to the ban- ker, the coin collector, and to the general reader, much of it being rare and curious, and all of it of great practical importance. Such is the exact- ness of the impression that a counterfeit may be detected by it at a glance.
It is almost inconceivable that any individual, however qualified for the peculiar studies the writing of this treatise demands, could be found disposed to engage in the immense amount of la- bor it involves, or that a person willing to devote years of patient toil to such an enterprise should possess the necessary scientific knowledge for the purpose.
The work is admirably classified as well as ar- ranged for reference, and for comparison of those genuine and counterfeit pieces, which correspond to each other, and in short is a book which no bu- siness man should be without,
I observe from a notice in the work that this valuable publication will probably be the pre- cursor of a treatise on coins, foreign and do- mestic, perhaps more extensive and general in its nature.
I cannot close this article without referring to the typography and binding of this book, which are both creditable in a high degree to its Cin- cinnati getting up. The binding is by'C. F. Wilstach, corner Main and Fourth streets, and will compare to advantage with any specimens of the kind from the Atlantic binderies.
City Dignitaries.
Every city has its own great men in the per- son of its public functionaries. We have all heard of the Lord Mayor of London, with his magnificent coach and out riders. And a Lon- don Alderman-what associations cluster round the very name ! I must repeat an anecdote or . two.
At a late public dinner in London, one of the company was speaking of the blessings of Provi- dence.
"Ay !" said Alderman W., who was present, smacking his lips, " it is indeed a blessed place. We get all our turtle soup from it."
A beggar solicited food from another of these
Our great men are the City Council. The Mayor, it is true, is the terror of all evil doers, and discharges his functions with great zcal as well as ability. But though he has power to commit, he has none to discharge, The sublime attribute of mercy is in the hands of the Jail Committee of Council.
In 1838, Jonah Martin and myself were to- gether members of the City Council. We were personal friends, and held the same general po- litical principles. Beyond this we had none of the sympathies which usually hold public men in the same traces. We divided on the coffee- house question-on the huckster licenses-on public improvements-on every thing almost.
We were placed together on the Jail commit- tee. Here we were again at issue. I had cen- sured the Mayor for not enforcing the laws, and could not with any degree of consistency concur with my colleague in turning out culprits almost as soon as the Mayor sent them to jail. Jonah, on the contrary had an unbounded antipathy to crowding the cells and to putting in criminals for the first offence, however flagrant.
A prime minister of Spain, on a visit to Co- runna, the Duke of Ossuna, liberated a galley slave that acknowledged he had been a very great rascal and deserved his punishment, while he paid no attention to the pleas which others made who alleged their innocence of the crimes laid to their charge. " Go," said he " it is not fit such a fellow as you should be here to corrupt the morals of so many honest and respectable peo- ple." Martin reversed the practise and was for turning all new offenders adrift for fear the more hardened cases would make them worse. So be- tween us I had as much trouble to keep them in, as he to get them out.
As we approached the cells, the poor despond- ing wretches would creep out of the lairs in which they were disposed like so many brutes. Every step in the jail yard gave way in one pro- gress-the eye was kindled in hope, the head bowed in reverence, and unless a flagrant case, . the heart of the bondman was rejoicing in deliv- erance. Ours was the power to bind or to loose.
Our great men, then, are the City Council. They are the Lords President of the community. Sovereigns, three hundred and sixty-four days in the year, and servants on one only, the first Monday in April. Some of them feel according- ly like a street commissioner of that day with
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whom an individual was remonstrating for un- due exercise of authority. " I don't know," said officer, " how long I shall continue in office, and while I do reign, I mean to reign." I propose to furniflı a gallery of portraits of these great men, the conscripti patres of Cincinnati, of which next week will present the first of the series.
Dayton Limestone.
The general use which is now making of this building material may give interest to the follow- ing statements.
This beautiful limestone, in its rough state, has been used for years in Dayton, but it is only of late years that its fitness for ornamental pur- poses by dressing its face, was rendered apparent. Messrs. Dickey, Shaeffer & Co. of that city own the most extensive quarry in its vicinity. This is three miles out of it, and its elevation is 180 feet above Dayton, which enables the proprietors to provide just such a descending grade for the cars that take it on railways into market, as to carry enormous loads.
There are four courses or strata in the quarry. One 20 inches thick, one 13 inches, one varying from 5 to 12 inches, and one uniformly 4 inches thick. It is the first description which has been so extensively used in the Miami canal locks. The four inch stone is generally used in flagging pavements, and the intermediate thickness for ordinary building purposes.
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