USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > The Cincinnati miscellany, or, Antiquities of the West, and pioneer history and general and local statistics. Volume II > Part 53
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Royalty.
A leaf from the account book of the Lord Steward or head cook of Queen Victoria's royal household, for the last year, gives the following items. The amounts are thrown into American currency, that they may be understood at a glance.
Butcher's meat . $17,000
Bread.
10
Milk and cream
7,000
Poultry
18,000
Fish
10,000
Bacon, cheese and eggs,
25,000
Groceries
23,000
Oil
8,600
Fruit and confectionary
8,250
Vegetables,
2,000
Wine, ale and beer-liquors , &c. .
47,050
Wax and tallow candles
11,000.
Lamps,
23,000
Fuel, .
24,000
Stationery ·
1,000
Turnery
1,700
Braziery,
4,400
China, glass, &c.
6,550
Linen
4,420
Washing table linen
15,500
Plate
1,740
$316,000
Such are the blessings of royalty. The rela- tive disbursements for bread and wine, beer and ale have had no parallel since the days of Sir John Falstaff. "Oh monstrous !- four penceworth of bread to all this sack," and is another striking. illustration how true to nature Shakspeare wrote.
A Lawyer's Portrait.
A painter, the other day, in a country town, made a great mistake in a characteristic, and it was discovered by a country farmer. It was the portrait of a lawyer-an attorney who from humble pretensions had made a good deal of money, and established thereby his pretensions, but somehow or other not very much enlarged his respectability. To his pretensions was added that of having his portrait put up in the parlour as large as life. There it is, very flashy, and true; one hand in his breast and the other in his small clothes pocket. It is market day; the country clients are called in-opinions are passed (the family present,) and all complimentary, ---
256
such as, "Never saw such a likeness in the course of my born days: as like un as he can s'are." " Well, sure enough, there he is." But a' last there was one dissentient! ""Taint like -not very-no, 'taint," said a heavy, middle- aged farmer, with a rather dry look, too, about the corners of his mouth. All eyes were upon him. "Not like! How not like?" exclaimed one of the company, and who knew the attorney -" say where it is not like?" "Why, don't you see," said the man, " he has got his hand in his breeches pocket. It would be as like again if he had it in some other body's pocket!" The family portrait was removed, especially, as after this, many came on purpose to see it; the attor- ney was lowered a peg or two, and the farmer obtained the reputation of a connoisseur as well as a wit.
Scripture Quotations.
A late city paper quotes as a scripture text, " that he that runs may read," "and that the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err there- in." The second member of the quotation is undoubtedly taken from the Bible, although not literally correct in the quotation, but the first part, although cited as above in many periodicals, is neither a scripture phrase nor a scripture idea, and cannot be found from Genesis to Revelations. It would be an employment conducive to the ac- curacy of certain editors if they would brush up their acquaintance with the Bible, as a means of enabling them to quote it correctly. They might probably derive other benefits in the perusal.
There are various other texts, such as-" God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb,"-" In the midst of life we are in death,"-What shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue," supposed even by persons otherwise intelligent to be deri- ved from the scriptures, which originated from far different sources. The first is in Tristam Shandy, by Sterne; the last was written by Ed- mund Burke. I cannot trace the origin of the second, but believe it to be an aphorism of one of the puritan writers of England.
Diplomacy.
The following incident occurred lately at Washington. Straws shew which way the wind blows :---
At a dinner at M. Bodisco's, Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Ritchie, and the British Minister were among the guests. After dinner, Mr. Ritchie, filling his glass, proposed to Mr. Bodisco, as a toast: " The immediate affinity of the Russian and United States Territory on the Northwest coast." Mr. Bodisco, turning to Mr. Packenham, said-" Will you drink that?" " I am not thirsty," said Mr. Packenham, filling his glass with water. Some time afterwards, Mr. Buchanan accosted Mr. Ritchie, " Come, I will drink your toast again!"
There was diplomacy for you, in the quiet re- ply of the British Minister!
From the Snow Flake Annual for 1846.
The Memory of the Past.
BY GEORGE P. MORRIS.
One balmy summer night, Mary, Just as the risen moon
Had cast aside her fleecy veil, We left the gay saloon. And, in a green sequestered spot, Beneath a drooping tree,
Fond words were breathed, by you forgot, That still are dear to me, Mary, That still are dear to me.
Oh we were happy then, Mary- Time finger'd on his way, To crowd a life-time in a night, Whole ages in a day! If star and sun would set and rise Thus in our after years,
This world would be a Paradise, And not a vale of tears, Mary, And not a vale of tears.
I live but in the past, Mary- The glorious days of old!
When love was hoarded in the heart, As misers hoard their gold;
And, often like a bridal train, To music soft and low,
The by-gone moments cross my brain, In all their summer glow, Mary, In all their summer glow.
These visions form and fade, Mary, As age comes stealing on
To bring the light and leave the shade Of days forever gone!
The poet's brow may wear at last The bays that round it fall;
But love has rose-buds of the past Far dearer than them all, Mary, Far dearer than them all.
A Professional Hit.
Dr. Elliott, as is well known, was a merry, eccentric little being, who talked pretty much at random, and oftentimes with no great reverence for the subjects which he talked upon.
On one occasion he called upon a patient, Hen- derson, the celebrated actor, to inquire how his medicine had succeeded, and in his northern ac- cent demanded of the patient,
" Had he taken the palls that he sent him?"
" He had."
" Well, and how did they agree? what had they done?"
" Wonders," replied Henderson; " I survived them."
" To be sure you did," said the doctor, " and you must take more of them, and live for ever. I make my patients immortal.
" That is exactly what I am afraid of," doctor, rejoined the patient.
CINCINNATI MISCELLANY.
CINCINNATI, JANUARY, 1846.
Coal.
I refered a short time since to a proposal made by Mr. S. W. POMEROY, of our city, to supply coal on contract for the ensuing season, at ten cents per bushel, one half payable at the time of subscribing, and the residue on delivery. I find great misapprehension exists as to the character of this project and its advantages to the public, which in both its pecuniary and moral aspects, I propose to remove.
It has been objected to me, that this is too high a price. " We have bought coal," say indiviu- uals, " when plenty, at nine cents per bushel, and even less. Mr. Pomeroy himself sells coal at six and seven cents by the boat load, and why should he charge such a difference to families?" In fact I have been told that I have been doing the com- munity an injury by advocating the project, and an insinuation was made more than once that it was done by me for interested purposes.
As to the unworthy motives imputed to me, as there never was a public servant who did his duty, that escaped such treatment, I shall endure it, satisfied if a great publie good shall have been accomplished by this project. As to the char- acter of the proposal, a word or two.
When coal first became an article of fuel here for family purposes, it was sold at twelve and a half to fifteen cents, by Ephraim Jones, who in- troduced it here into general use. As others got into the business it became an article for specu- lation, commanding in time of scarcity as high as thirty, and even forty cents per bushel. To remedy this, the Fuel Company was established, and stock to the value of $30,000 taken. The larger share of this has been absorbed in improve- ments, stoek and fixtures, some thirteen thousand dollars being applied annually to the purchase of coal, hardly enough to supply four hundred of the eight thousand families here, who consume the article, and in' faet not a sufficiency for the supply of two hundred, if we deduet what is needed for the use of manufacturers who are stockholders. Well, the Fuel Company sold up- per country coal at twelve and a half to fifteen cents, and in a great measure checked the spirit of monopoly and extortion that was at work. A permanent market being thus opened, coal was landed here in large quantities, and for one sea-
son the Fuel Company was undersold, and its operations temporarily checked, by the publie af- fording no further patronage, being led to suppose that the desired effect on the coal market had now been accomplished in a permanent reduction of its price.
What next? Here we have had a long period of low water, succeeded by a month of suspen- sion of river navigation by ice, while our con- sumption of coal has increased more than double the amount of 1840, and the result has been that from thirty to eighty cents per bushel has been exacted for coal. Truly is it recorded that the love of money is the Root of all evil. Alas! that men, for the sake of making a few dollars, should be guilty of extorting from the pockets of the des- titute the last dime of their wretched pittance. We have all now learnt a lesson. Let it be con- sidered how to profit by it. And now for Mr. Pomeroy's proposition.
In the first place, coal delivered at the doors of private houses is as cheap as it can be perma- nently done. Ask any manufacturer who buys by measurement and pays his hawling himself, how much cheaper he gets it than the man who buys it by the cart load. One cent per bushel, probably. Is this too great a difference? But it has been bought at nine or even eight cents, when the market was glutted. But did not this glut put the next season's consumption to you at six- teen cents, and was not the average thus made, higher than the price now proposed?
But if there are those who believe they can buy to better advantage without making such engagement as I recommend, is not this very arrangement the means of enabling them to do so. By withdrawing a large portion of purcha- sers out of the private yards, will it not lessen the usual demand there, which has served to keep up or advance the price; and did not the Fuel Company operate as far as they went, to this very effeet?
As to the Fuel Company, it must enlarge its sphere before it can protect the community. Men have not only had to pay extra price else- where for what they have needed, but the be- nevolent have been disabled from assisting with this article as many of the destitute as they would otherwise liave Gone.
33
258
I will make a fair proposition to any one who does not agrec in these views, to test their value. I shall buy three hundred bushels of Mr. Pornc- roy, under this arrangement, for my own use. Let any person who thinks he can economise by purchasing the same quantity in any other mode, invest thirty dollars in the article. At the close of the winter, let it be ascertained who has most on hands. Let the value of what is left be paid to the Orphan Asylum, by whocver shall have the least quantity unburnt, or the value of a load by him who shall first run out.
The importance of the subject must excuse the length of this article.
Cincinnati Steamboats of 1845.
I have procured for publication a list of steam- boats enroled as belonging to this district, to- gether with the names of two others which were built here, but finished, the Belle Creole of 448 tons, at Louisville, and the Bulletin of 499 tons, at New Albany.
Magnolia -
596
50,000
Bulletin
499
37,000
Belle Creole
449 33,000
Hercules -
371 20,000
Jamestown
338
27,000
Cincinnati
326
32,000
Sea -
310
21,000
George Washington -
303
24,000
Metamora
297
25,000
Hard Times
291
20,000
Alhambra
290
24,000
Star Spangled Banner
275
25,000
Pike No. 8
247
20,000
Andrew Jackson
229
22,000
Selma
227
18,000
Undine
193
15,000
Wm. R. McKee
165
13,000
Mary Pell
159
11,000
Reliance
156
9,000
War Eagle
156
14,000
Sultan -
125
6,000
Clermont -
121
6,000
Rob Roy -
111
8,000
Eureka
110
7,000
Mentoria -
108
6,500
Matilda Jane
87
8,000
Henri
56
3,500
27 boats. Total,
6609
505,500
The building here in 1840, was thirty-three boats of 5361 tons, at a cost of $592,500; of 1844, thirty-two boats of 7838 tons, and a value of $542,500. The gradual diminution in value of of aggregates, results from the reduction in the price of materials of late years, and the dispro- portion of price of cost, compared with tonnage, and in the War Eagle and Reliance of the same
tonnage, costing, one nine and the other fourteen thousand dollars, in the absolute difference of fin - ish and equipment.
The steamboats and barges built last year, as far as I can make up a list, were at
Number. Tonnage.
Cost.
New Albany,
11
1,959
$118,500
Louisville,
16
4,152
270,000
Cincinnati,
27
6,609 505,500
As soon as I get the Pittsburgh and St. Louis lists I shall add them to this.
Several boats are on the way here-two of them nearly finished, which are not included in my list.
CORRESPONDENCE.
Mr. C. CIST,-Sir:
I am not much given to speculation, nor can I be charged with favouring any of those exten- sive projects by which our citizens have been plundered or the city involved in debt. Yet when an enterprise perfectly practicable, and of immense importance to the public, has been pro- posed, although it may involve an outlay of money, I have not withheld my assent.
A few years only can elapse-not exceeding ten-before we shall have a railway connecting the Capitol of the State of Indiana with Cincin- nati. The distance is about one hundred and ten miles, and the route must be through the Whitewater Valley to Hamilton, thence to the city on the line of the canal.
Our citizens and the city corporation have a grade for twenty-five miles of the road already, in the bed of the Whitewater Canal. Upon this bed, timbers and rails can be laid down for about $4,000 per mile, making the cost of our portion of the work when completed, $100,000. The east end of the Whitewater Canal, terminating at Cincinnati, it is the general impression, will never yield anything, as revenue, to the owners, while used as a canal; but when abandoned for the grade of a rail-road, the stockholders will re- ceive at least six per cent. upon the whole cost of grade and rails. Such will be the impetus given to trade and travel in the direction of Indianapo- lis, by the extension of this work even to the In- diana line, that the people of that state will soon make provision for its completion to their capitol.
The controversy now waging between the owners of property on the line of the contemplated street and Market Space, between Walnut street and Western Row, and the city, must end in em- barrassment to both parties, if not soon termina- ted. By the abandonment of the Market Space, between Elm street and Western Row, and only taking ground for a fifty-three feet street, room can be had for the passage of the railway from
259
Western Row to Walnut street, and the difficulty | I. & B. Bruce, and will doubtless settle on her may be settled. This track may be made so as next trial the question, what we shall gain by sending to our Atlantic Cities for fire apparatus. to touch the south end of Green street, and afford space for warehouses, and a depot on the whole The Relief costs less than the Fame, and be- sides being of greater power, as a double suction engine, is not as heavy by from twelve to four- teen hundred pounds in weight. line from Western Row, without encroaching upon Pearl street. The rails may be laid upon a level with the bottom of the canal at the east end, and allow the cars to pass under the cross It gratifies me to find our Cincinnati mechan- ics justifying my guarantee that they will make as good if not better work, at as cheap if not cheaper rates, than the same description of arti- cles cost in Boston or Philadelphia. streets to the terminus, without obstruction or damage to the thoroughfares of the city, and without any opposition on the part of the citi- zens; and this is the only way and the only route by which a railway will ever be permitted to enter the city. The importance of a depot from Indi- Adventure with a Bull. (From Scenes and Adventures in Spain.) ana and Hamilton, in the centre of the city, must be seen at a glance; and on looking over our city plat, covered with expensive and permanent im- It was a fine afternoon in August. On the old plaza the rays of a canicular sun were shed with scorching intensity, and a strong stream of light gilded the pavement under the arch, and for a short distance beyond it. provements, it must be admitted that I am right in my conclusion that this is the only route left.
In view then of securing the money already invested in the Whitewater Canal, of termina- ting a costly and vexatious litigation, and of af- fording to our merchants the only opportunity of a railway termination in the centre of the city, I hope our City Council and others interested, may take up this project and give it a full and candid examination. C.
January 1, 1836.
Fire Engines.
A new engine called " Relief No. 2," built by Paddack & Campbell for the Fire Company on George street bearing that name, and intended to match the superb hose reel now exhibiting at their Fair at the Masonic Hall, was brought out on trial a few days since.
In the construction of this engine Messrs. Pad- dack & Campbell have not only surpassed every- thing heretofore brought from the east-the Fame for example-but also all their own previous ef- forts in this line. This can readily be made ap- parent.
The Fame throws the farthest of any of our Eastern engines, as the Cincinnati does of those made here. The Fame has thrown water after repeated trials two hundred and four feet, and the best performace of the Cincinnati was two hun- dred and ten; both from the gallery. These are respectively of 7} and 74 chambers, and of cor- responding power in other respects, and consti- tute a class of engines which usually throw thirty to forty feet farther than the smaller class of six inch chambers, which is the size of the Relief. Yet the last engine, in an unfinished state, on her first and only trial, has thrown water by measure- ment, two hundred feet, level distanee, through a nosel, also, one sixteenth of an inch larger than that of the Fame.
--
As I cmerged from the heated region into the cool, solitary street, but adorned and irradiated with bright eyes and gracious smiles from the ranges of balconies above, the effect was singu- lar. Advancing towards my quarters, intending merely to take leave of my patron and his family, I saw my servant with the horses waiting for me at the door according to my directions. In the balconies were the young ladies and some Seno- ritas, their friends. A good distance beyond, and where the street was somewhat broader, there was a mass of people looking down an- other street which branched off, occasionally peering round the corner, and starting back as though dreading some encounter.
In a few minutes a Novillo, or rather a young bull, rushed, prancing and butting, into the street,. maddencd and urged on by hundreds of vocifera- tions, from the crowd by whom he was pursued .. My servant dragged his horses through the gate- way, doubtless expecting me to follow, but I did not choose to do so. How could I, when so many bright eyes were bent down upon me? So. I bade him shut the gatc.
" 'Tis only a Novillo," said I to myself.
And here let me explain that, in the northern provinces of Spain, and, I believe, in many oth- ers, it is the custom, on festive days, to enjoy a sport called Novillo, that is a yearling bull is se- cured by the horns with rope several fathoms in length, and then he is cast free, as it were, and excited by hootings, shrieks, and an infinity of discordant sounds, until he runs the whole length of his tether, when he is brought up with a jerk. All get out of his way as well as they can. Some, however, tantalize him by shaking their cloaks, jackets, or handkerchiefs before his eyes, and imi- tating the tricks and manœuvres of professed bull-fighters.
Well, I was alone, in the narrow part of the street, quite despising the Novillo. All at once The came full tear down the street, the whole posse of tormentors howling after him. I stood resting on my cane, which was a stout one, with a long gilt ferrule at the end; but the Novillo was but- ting right at me, and, to my dismay, I perceived that he had very sharp, and, by no means, short horns.
There was no possibility of a retreat. The case was a desperate one. I was between the
The Relief is now in the hands of lier painters, infuriated animal's pointed horns and the wall,
260
against which he seemed fully bent on pinning me.
How it came into my head I know not, but in- stantaneously I wedged the thick end of the cane between the upper part of my arm and my chest, as I had seen the picadores do with their spears, at the bull-fights, and firmly grasping the pro- jecting portion in the hand, presented the ferri- led point to the animal, who came on mnost furi- ously, head down, horns just at the proper tossing angle, and tail lashing his flank. I kept my eye upon him, and just as he made at me, I thrust my cane with all my might and main. I meant to do so into his shoulder in picador style, but luckily for me, I think, it buried itself in his flank, and threw him down with great force, turning him on his back, his feet trembling in the air, and his tongue lolling out of his foaming mouth.
I slipped aside, and was greeted with vivas from all the balconies, the ladies waving their handkerchiefs to me, my own fair patrones being among the most energetic. I coolly took off my cap, bowed right and left, and passed along amidst enthusiastic cheers, until I again passed the archway into the plaza.
When I arrived there, I stood still, marveling at my escape, and at the manner which I had hit upon to effect it. The whole scene did not occupy a twentieth part of the time it has taken me to describe it. I returned presently to my street, in which there were several groups in ani- mated conversation. I was soon recognised, and again cheered as El torero Yngles. Nothing could have happened more calculated to make an individual popular than an event of this kind, any feat of agility or sang froid in encounters of this kind, being quite to the taste of the people all over Spain, though there was no merit on my part, no prowess; it was a case of self-preserva- tion; and, not only did my poke in the Novillo's short ribs force the breath out of his body, but the pavement of Vitoria is proverbially slippery; so that when he once lost his legs, there was no recovering them. I had only time to say adieu to my friends, to receive their warm congratula- tious, to enjoy a hearty laugh with them at my curious adventure; and to depart, as 1 had a long ride before me, and was anxious, lest any sudden march at head-quarters should occur during my absence.
Recollections of the Last Sixty Years .-- No. 4. BY J. JOHNSTON, EsQ., of Piqua.
During my agency at Fort Wayne, the Mi- amis were a part of my charge. They formerly inhabited this river, the Miami of Ohio, and here where I live was their principal towns-extend- ing from the mouth of Loramie's creek, inclu- ding the ground occupied by my farm down to, and including lower Piqua, the present town of Piqua. The Miamis, in the old French war, which terminated with the peace of 1763, took part with the French, and were obliged to aban- don their towns here; and sought a refuge on the upper waters of the Wabash and the Miami of the Lake, near the mouth of the Saint Joseph and Saint Mary's rivers, where Fort Wayne stood. The Shawanese and Delawares adhered to the
British interests, and were the occasion of the expulsion of the Miamis from this point. The Miamis were anciently called the Tewightewees; and after them the Shawanese took their places here, and gave it the name of Piqua, from one of their tribes. Of this tribe, the Miami was Meshe- kenoghqua or Little Turtle, a celebrated orator and chief who sig ed the treaty of Greenville with Gen. Wayne; a man of great wit, humour, and vivacity, fond of the company of gentlemen, and delighted in good eating. When I knew him he had two wives living with him under the same roof in the greatest harmony; one an old woman about his own age-fifty-the choice of his youth, who performed the drudgery of the house; the other a young and beautiful creature of eighteen, who was his favourite, yet it never was discovered by any one that the least unkind feeling existed between them. This distinguished chief died at Fort Wayne about twenty-five years ago, of a confirmed case of the gout, brought on by high living, and was buried with military honours by the troops of the United States. The Little Turtle used to entertain us with many of his war adventures, and would laugh immoderately at the recital of the follow- ing :- A white man, a prisoner of many years in the tribe, had often solicited permission to go on a war party to Kentucky, and had been refused. It never was the practise with the Indians to ask or encourage white prisoners among them to go to war against their countrymen. This man however had so far acquired the confidence of the Indians, and being very importunate to go to war, the Turtle at length consented, and took him on an expedition into Ken- tucky. As was their practise, they had re- connoitred during the day, and had fixed on a house recently built and occupied, as the object to be attacked, next morning a little before the dawn of day. The house was surrounded by a clearing, there being much brush and fallen tim- ber on the ground. At the appointed time the Indians, with the white man, began to move to the attack. At all such times no talking or noise is to be made. They crawl along the ground on hands and feet; all is done by signs from the leader. The white man all the time was stri- ving to be foremost, the Indians beckoning him to keep back. In spite of all their efforts he would keep foremost, and having at length got within running distance of the house, he jumped to his feet and went with all his speed, shouting at the top of his voice, Indians! Indians! The Turtle and his party had to make a precipitate retreat, losing for ever their white companion; and disappointed in their fancied conquest of the unsuspecting victims of the log cabin. From
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