Evening Star Newspaper, April 24, 1897, Page 20

90 THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 1897-24 PAGES. HIS LIFE IN GALENA > — General Grant as a Clerk in His Father’s Leather Store. AT NO TIME WAS HE A TANNER Recollections of One Who Knew Him Just Before the War. — INTERESTING AN STORY Written for The Evening Star by M. T. Burke. HEPRINCIPAL onsideration which leads me to give my recollections of Gen. | Grant to the public is the belief that they may serve to correct any erroneous im- pressions current in the minds of the peo- ple regarding the character and repu- tation of ¢ Grant and his family previ- ous to the civil war. The fact that I am the only survivor of the few men who were associated with Grant in the old Galena leather store made fa- mous by his connection with it, is perhaps another reason why I should record my knowledge of Grant's Galena Hfe in par- ticular before it is too late. I first met Grant during the summer of store force. The business wes conducted in one of the mest gitrectize and best con- structed buildings in tow! nd we had built up the largest leather and saddler? business northwest of Chicago. J, R, Grant was the scle owner of the business, and was worth at that time trom $60,009 to $75,000. e were all employed upén stipu- lated salaries, which wete about equal, and were entirely sufficient to enable us_to live comfortably in very good houses. We were not so much interested in che salaries, however, as in the success of the busi- ness, which promised a partnership in due time. The par cere was realized by Orville and me a year later under the firm name of Grant & Burke, and had it not been for the intervention of the civil war Ulysses would have been one of his father’s business partners had he so desired. It has been frequently stated that Grant occupied an inferior position in the Galena store at a salary that did not enable him to live comfortably and pay his debts. Nothing could be farther from the truth. His relation to the business was precisely the same as that of his brothers, and, like them, he lived well, and met his obligations promptly. Old business men know that a medium low salary on the present salary besis would have been considered good pay before the war. The captain's work at the store was of a general nature. He waited on customers, filled orders, packed goods and weighed In hides (in which we dealt largely), Just as we all did. He also occa- sionally drove out to visit country custom- ers. During the winter of 1860 and 1861 the rate of New York exchange at Galena was scmetimes as high as 15 per cent, on ac- ceunt of the general distrust of western and southern banks. To avold such a charge against our eastern remittances, we beught pork on\the Galena market, which we shipped to Cincinnati, where New York exchange sold at 1 per cent on account of the high standing of the Ohio banks. To Capt. Grant was assigned the duty of buy- ing most of the pork, which work he great- ly preferred to crdinary work in the store. He was, in fact, the favored one about the stere, being less acquainted with the goods ard customers than the others. He had just begun to get his hand in, so to speak, when he was called to a higher service. Prompt and Systematic. During the time Grant was connected GRANT'S GALENA HOME BEFORE THE WAR. 1841 at my native town of Bethel, Clermont ccunty, Ohio, where he spent his first fur- lough from West Point, his father having remeved to Bethel from: Georgetown, twelve miles distant, some months previous. I again met him during the-summer of 1843 at the same place, where he had gone after his graduation as Heutenant to enjoy his first leave of absence. He made a strong impression on the vil- lage boys, partially on account of his mili- tary appearance, but principally because he was polite and companionable with no trace of vanity. When on the street he was usually surrounded by a crowd of listeners, to whom he freely imparted in- | formation regarding his West Point ex- | periences. He had the reputation even at that time of being a good talker. There was an element in the village, how- | ever, that literally turned up their noses | ai the young West Pointer, and when one | Harrison Scott, a village stable boy, carica- | tered Lieut. Grant by parading the streets | in a cheap home-made uniform, it tickled them mightily. Such incivilties were really aimed less at the genial, unoffending lieu- | tenant than at his offending father, who Was known to be very proud of him. Jesse R. Grant, the father, was not a popular man tn the village for reasons that @re entirely to his credit, as his enemies were almost entirely composed of his po- litical opponents, and small-minded neigh- bors who were filled with jealousy and en- ¥y on account of his maiertal prosperity. He as an uncompromising anti-slavery Whi, a strong temperance advocate, the riches! man in town, owned a piano, wore gold-howed spectacles and sent his children to college. These were offenses that could rot be forgiven by many of the Bethel folk. I once heard a well-known citizen of Bethel say that whenever he met J. R. Grant he felt like knocking his gold spectacles into the gutter, and he made a suggestive mo- tion that indicated that if he could land | Grant In the gutter with his spectacles it | would suit him so much the better. even the enemies of Ji compelled to admiration his strong char- acter and fine natural abilities. He was a good writer, an exce debater, and one of the men in Clermont county In the Army. I do not remember to have seen Lieut. Grant at Bethel again during the following eleven years, which comprised his first except on the ! with his young ordially renewed i entertained them th graphic accounts of his | during the Mexican war, a war | which he at that time and ever aiter con- d unjust and unholy. + nt Was very much ans, and about t Bethe! a young Mexicar © of Gregory interested in the time sent to who went by the 1eral service in his rs family. He was a bright little chap, and was much liked by the Bethel boys. He was an expert with the lasso, @rd practiced on everything that hove in sight from Blake's gray gander to Morris’ old mare I heard of Grant very frequently during the period of his regular army life through his Hethe a es, with whom I was on terms of in The family, especially the f took great interest in his mtli- tary highly pleased with his meritorious services and promotion dur- ing the Mexican war. It should be said, however, for the purpose of emphasizing one of Grant’s strong characteristics, that most of the family frequently expressed the opinion that he was careless with his salary. and ought to be saving money. Grant says in his memoirs that the in- adequacy of his pay as an army officer led him to resign from the army in ish4. The six years following his resignation were spent in St. Louis and vicinity, first on @ farm owned by Mrs. Grant and partially equipped by Grant's father, and afterward @ real estate agent. ptain Grant and family removed from St. Louis and became residents of Galena fn May. 1860, where he took a position in his father’s leather store. On April 25, ps1 he accon panied the Jo Daviess Guards Springfield. The intervening period of ® little less than a year measures the length of his actual residence in Galena, although his family remained for some months lorger. Jesse R. Grant had re- moved from Bethel, Ohio, to Covington, Ky., in 1854, where he personally conducted @ leather store. He was also largely in- terested In a leather and shoe and harness findings business at Galena during the ten years preceding the civil war, first under the firm rame of Grant & Collins, whom he succeeded in 1854. The Galena and Cov- ington stores were valuable auxiliaries to bis Ohio tenning interests. When he pur- chased the Collins interest he placed his eldest son, Samuel Simpson Grant, in charge of the business. Simpson, as he was familiarly called, was a man ‘of high character and fine business ability, and the business prospered under management. the spring of 1856 I was sent to the lena store to take charge of the office. had married @ cousin of the Grant boys, nd Simpson, who was a bachelor, made his home with me much of the time pre- vious to the arrival of his younger brother, Orville, in the spring of 1869. I cannot pass without saying that Simpson Grant possessed as many manly qualities as any man I have ever known. He died, a victim ef consumption, in the fall of 1861, and was varied from the residence of General Grant. Grant im Business. Owing to Simpson's protracted ill-health, the conduct of the business very largely Covolved ug Crville and me, and Cap- tain Grant wae @ welcome addition to the j cared little for with the leather store he exhibited many excellent business qualifications. He was prompt and systematic, a close observer of business conditions and a good judge of their probable results. Had he continued to direct his great natural ability along busi- pess lines, he would doubtless have achieved success. Possessing a high sense of honor himself, he was inclined to trust others and often found it difficult to refuse credit to an unworthy applicant, even when his judgment told him the case was du- bious. A few experiences, however, tended to remedy this virtuous_fault. I recall one little incident which illustrates one of his business characteristics. A bill was pre- sented to his brother Orville, who examined it clo@ly, questioned the correctness of an item or so, remarked about the prevailing hard times and finally drew a check for it. After the departure of the collectc:, Ulys- ses sald: “Orville, didn’t you intend ‘to pay that bill when it was first presented?” “Of course,” replied Orville: “why do you ask?" “Because,” said Ulysses, “if you in- tended to pay the bill in the first place It was better to do so promptly and cheerfully, as though you had a full treasury. That collector went away with a wrong impres- sion of you.” Orville laughingly remarked to me afterward that ly: was right about that bill matter. 5 Grant has so often been described as a tanner plodding at his trade in the Galena tan yard when Sumter was fired on that the truth regarding the matter will appear like iconoclasm in the minds of those his- torians who deem it necessary to sink a great man deep in our obscurity, even the obscurity of a tan vat, before they lift him to the pinnacle of the temple of fame, in order that his greatness may be enhanced by mere contrast with himself, and the possibilities of American citizenship fitting- ly illustrated. At the risk of being called n fconoclast I must record the fact that Grant never was a tanner, and the Galena tan yard is a myth. Beyond driving a horse around his father’s horse-power bark mill when a young boy, Grant never work- ed a-day in a tannery in his life. He was a strong believer in the honor and dignity of the trades, but had an especial aversion to the tanners’ trade for himself. The nearest approach to a tannery at Galena was a currying or finishing shop, conduct- Bailding Occupied by Grant Leather Store. ed in connection with the leather store. The leather was tanned in Ohio principally and shipped to Galena “in the rough,” as tanners term it. Grant's brothers, after re- ceiving a liberal education, had learned the tanning business in all its details in order to intelligently take up their father’s busi- ness interests, and when it was necessary either of them could take a hand and as- sist through a rush, which frequently oc- curred at the Galena shop; but Capt. Grant had no knowledge whatever of this branc! of the business. _ His Home Life. With the exception of a few months’ oc- cupation at the close of the war of a house Presented to him by the citizens of Galena, Grant's Galena home was a_ two-story brick dwelling house situated in an excel- lent neighborhood on the brow of a hill overlooking the principal streets of the town. It “was a good house as Galena houses went thirty-five years ago, but plain and unpretentious. Grant was essentially a home man, and a most devoted husband and father. His family life was characterized by affection- ate kindness and courtesy, and was all that could be desired by a man who loved the retirement of home and the picts, at home. He was entirely unsel- ih with his time, however, and warmly welcamed relatives or neighbors at home for a social chat or a He was fond of euchre, ‘and th ticular regarding the little amenities of life, not only for himself, but for his children, with whom he was very exacting regarding their manners in his presence. Grant was very fond of a horse, and greatly enjoyed driving. Soon after he came to Galen&, the store purchased, at his suggestion, a driving team and car- riage, in addition to a general purpose horse already on hand. The team was to be used in common, but on account of his knowledge of horses, he was commissioned to select the horses and take charge of them. He purchased, through his friend, Col. Brady, a handsome pair of black Canadian horses that proved highly satis- factory. One of the horses was named Brady, out of compliment to the colonel. Grant, of course, used this team at will, and derived much pleasure from them while he remained in Galena. One of the animals eventually died on our hands, and the other was sold by me to Mr. Frank Hatch of La Crosse, Wis. The only other pastime I knew Grant to indulge in at Galena was an occasional swim in the Fever river. I usually accom- panied him, and on one occasion we took our older boys with us. Col. Fred Grant was then a lad of eleven or twelve years. As soon as we boarded a small raft made fast to the shore, Fred remarked that he could swim, and eagerly began to disrobe. Grant eyed him closely, and when he was free of his garments, picked him up quickly and with all his strength threw him out into deep water. Fred disappeared from view, but came up like a duck, and struck out for the raft, where Grant, laughing heartily, stood ready to assist him if neces- sary. This incident illustrates Grant's characteristic method of teaching his boys self-reliance. Three years later Fred ac- companied his father through the Vicks- burg campaign with the courage of a vet- eran. His Friends. Grant attended the Beach Street M. Church at Galena, and contributed to its support, although not a member of the church. He naturally became quite well known to the members of the congregation, but, aside from these, his immediate neigh- bors, and a few prominent business men with whom he came in contact on account of his intimate connection with a well- known mercantile establishment, he made few acquaintances during his short stay in Galena. His acquaintances, however, were desirable, and were doubtless as numerous as any other man of culture and natural reserve would have acquired in the same length of time. Still, in the sense of being well known to Galenians at large Grant was obscure. At this period Grant was a square-shouldered, spare-built man, with a very perceptible stoop, caused, as he said, by the Mexican campaign, followed by hard work on the St. Louis farm. He was 5 feet 8 inches in height when he straight- ened up, and weighed about 140 pounds. There was nothing in his personal appear- ance as he quietly walked to and from the store that would have particularly attract- ed the notice of a casual observer. His appearance became somewhat more con- spicuous, however, during the last few winter months of his residence, as he af- fectionately clung to his old military over- coat, which unquestionably marked him an army officer. Among Grant’s acquaintances was John A. Rawlins, a rising young lawyer, after- ward chief of Grant's staff and Secretary of War, W. R. Rowley, then a prominent county official, afterward a general and member of Grant’s staff; John E. Smith, a jeweler, afterward colonel of the 45th Illi- nois and a major general of volunteers, and A. L. Chetlain, then a crockery mer- chant, afterward a brevet major general of volunteers. To Defend His Country. After Sumter was fired upon and the Ga- lena war meeting was held, Grant practi- cally severed his connection with the store, having fully decided to assist in the de- fense of the Union in some military capac- ity. Up to the time of his departure for Springfield as the chaperone of the Jo Da- viess Guards his assistance was in constant demand, and the leather store became headquarters for discussion and prepara- tion preliminary to the departure of our noble guards for the front. When Grant received his appointment as colonel of the 21st Illinois Regiment a com- plete military outfit was a necessity. A list of the individuals who have claimed to assist him in his first horse, saddle and uniform on account of his poverty would be Interesting. His first horse was “Row- dy,’ a trim bay animal, used at the leather store for general purposes. In addition to his other qualifications, ‘““Rowdy” was well Raited to saddle. “Rowdy’s” first war sad- dle and bridle were made by C. R. Perkins, a Galena saddler. Perkins was a regular customer of the leather store, and his work was credited to his account. The $300 or $400 necessary to complete his outfit Grant borrowed from one of the Galena banks, on the indorsement of E. A. Collins, his father’s former business partner, who was still a resident of Galena, and a great friend of Ulysses. The money would have been cheerfully furnished by the leather store, but Grant was independent, and pre- ferred to relieve the store by getting the accommodation in the manner mentioned. ‘The writer took up the note with money sent him by Grant for that purpose. Even Grant's indorser, an immense admirer of Grant, who rejoiced in his success, was fond of relating in a public manner how he had assisted Grant to make a start by furnishing him his first outfit. It should be said in justice to the old gentleman that he simply desired to impress the public with his close relation to Grant, and had no thought whatever of injuring him by making such an unqualified statement. From the time he received his appoint- ment as colonel to the time of his death Grant's life is an open book, read of all men. E. ——_+—___ HORSES ON SNOW SHOES. Rubber-Coated Steel Plates That able Them to Work in the Snow. From the San Francisco Call. All the horses working at the placer mine under the shadow of Pilot Peak, Plu- mas county, Cal., wear snowshoes. The al- tltude of the place is about 5,500 feet, and enormous quantities of snow fall there in the winter, not infreqiently reaching to the depth of twenty feet. “To overcome the disadvantages of the snow and enable us to carry on our projects there,” said Mr. Bowman, one of the own- ers of the mine, “we put snow shoes on the horses. By doing this we are able to get in our supplies of groceries, meats, canned goods and other things, and to transport the product of our mines. All our nicks, shovels, giant powder and simi- lar things that have to be taken about in winter are handled in this way. “Only California-bred horses are used. It has been found these are the best, and, if possible, we get mountain horses, those that are raised at high altitudes. The horses go right along in the snow. They usually take a fast walk, but sometimes they trot a little. . “They get so accustomed to the snow shocs that they don’t stumble or fall at all, and they lke them so well that they don’t like to walk without them. They will put up their feet to have the snow shoes put on. “We used wogden shoes at first and they worked very well, but now we have some- thing a great deal better. It consists of a thin steel plate eight inches in diameter, through which are holes for the caulks of the ordinary shoe. The plate is fast- ened by a steel spring to the lower part of. the hoof, and there is a nut on it so it can be screwed on tight with a wrench.* “On the bottom of this steel plate is a coating of.India rubber, and this, by the way, is a great improvement in horse snow shoes. ‘It keeps the shoe free entirely of snow, whereas formerly snow used to clog and fill up onsthe plate. This would cause the horse to slip and flounder around. Even when the horses are fitted oft with snow shoes for the first time they rarely ever fall, though, of course, they are usual- ly steadied a little till they get the hang of things. We are careful not to select nervous horses. We don’t want a horse that’s too high-spirited. We rather prefer those that are quiet and not easily per- turbed. “The trained snow shoe horses go any- where, no matter how precipitous the mountains are nor how deep the snow is. We tried for a while making snow shoes out of aluminum for the horses. The metal was light, and it was thought for a time it would be just the thing. But we found that the aluminum, unlike steel, would bend, so we gave up the new white metal and stuck to the steel, using a thick rub- coating bottom,” “They have such a cozy little flat.” ‘Have they any children?” “No; the won't allow it.” want anything, try an ad. in The what you wish, you {GENERAL U. S. GRANT a —> += Re By Morat Haletea@, | 3° ‘There was more than military sense in the terms of acceptaure ofothe confederate surrender; there was! etattemanship; and in Grant’s treatment! of tie confederates, thcugh he wore a muyddy-.¢oat, he was a perfect gentleman. The question had been taised on the Rapidam befére Grant moved against Lee, whether the’better way to take Richmond would.be to, ship the army to the navigable water nearest that city, but Grant did not care foroRichmond, say- ing: “Lee's army is fight Over here in the woods, ten miles away.”That was the true note, and the first time it had been re- sponsibly uttered, and it was one of the sayings of the general that effaced the ob- scuration of his glory by..the many pro- cesses of foggy belittiement. The firet time I saw Gen. Grant was in Washington, in the evening after the march of the Army of the Potomac, at last tri- umphently returning from Virginia. When Gen. Scott ordered the march across the Long bridge invading Virginian soll his or- der was that when the pickets challenged the troops, the reply to the “Who comes there’’ should be “The advance guard of the Grand Army of the United States. The Army of the Potomac, fresh from Ap- pcemattox, by way of the ghastly field of the Wilderness, had marched in glittering rrasses for many hours westward on Penn- sylvania avenue, and the review was over and the sidewalks thronged; when there was a commotion caused by a man wearing an army hat with golden acorns on the cord, riding a superb bay horse at a slash- ing pace, and the people stared and their faces brightened and there were no cheers, for there did not seem to be time, but grati- fied exclamations, “Grant!” “Grant " Much had been said of his bear- ing on a horse, and it was supreme. The horse and rider knew each other, and there was no discord of movement, The animal, his head proud and gallant, as be- The Grant Mausoleum. came a war horse, shone like silk, and there was a rapid, rhythmic beat of his hoofs—the general, gloved and smoking, saluting easily, in quiet, composed response to universal admiring attention. The man on horseback was a most striking figure, and I thought of that Belmont picture with the billy goat beard, that had perverted the American imagination, contrasted with this commanding horseman, with his close- cropped beard, and face like cast steel— whose “tucky days” had lasted to this more than imperial triumph. When next I saw Grant he was on the way from St. Louis io Cincinnati, :and it had been ar- ranged that he was to leave the cars at Lawrenceburg and take a steamer that the people might see himson the huricane deck and welcome him in the old way on the river front. As the general got out of the car, wearing a long duster, he looked surprisingly slight, amd as’ we progressed up the river, after he had been given time to put on a clean shirt and get breakfast, there was a reception on deck and many presentations. He was not‘apparently the man I had seen on horseback, but thei was a keen spark, like a bit of bright met- al, in his eye when he was interested; and tens of thousands of pecplesblackened both shores of the river on which he was born, in the city of his boyHood’s dreams—and he bowed impassively asthe roar of the pop- ular acclamation swelled from side to side, and the steam whistlés and calliopes sound- ed above the storm of multitudiifous voices, until the arch of the sky seemed to echo the applause. Gen. Grant did not want to be Presi- dent wher the office was first urged upon him. He preferred to be the head of the army, and his first contact with rough politics while President Johnson was at war with Secretary Stanton was so un- pleasant that his repugnance to politicians was augmented and almost embittered. For a time Grant was very much in the attitude toward the great office that Gen. Sherman held afterward—that of one who would not have the presidency—and there were many radical republicans who en- couraged the idea that Grant's true place was as the military not the civil head of the army, because they had a feeling that he would not be subordinated, and might take the big things into his own head and hand. There was a curious dispute about Grant's politics, and doubts were encouraged by some of those very near him. Hints that Grant was a democrat took many forms. He never had voted ex- cept as a democrat. Those who thought republican radicals wanted to go too far thought perhaps the better way to head them off was to push Grant into the presi- dency; and @ strong current was estab- lished for him, no matter what his party was. There were democrats quite cocky about him. Gen. Frederick Dent put the question in the course of an earnest conversation at the Ebbitt House as to whether Grant should be President: “Do you think yo know what Gen. Grant’s politics are?’ “Yes, I am quite sure,” was the reply. Dent was staggered a bit by the confi- dence of the response, and asked, sharp- ly: “Well, what do you say about it?” “I understand him to have always been in favor of the United States!” Dent, who been seated, jumped up and ex- tended his hand to this practical poli- clan and journalist, saying, with warmth, “I never before heard the fact stated so well and so briefly.” * Of course it did not require much more than a mild ac- quaintance with the American people to give knowledge that when Gen. Grant came out of the war the victcrious com- manding general, and added to that the supreme good sense’ with which he was gifted at Appomattox, he must be Presi- dent; and as the average American saw it, the idea grew pleasant. There were many who thought it a pub- lic misfortune thet, while the country needed, above all things, statesmanship, it was put into the hands of a soldier whose politics, so far as the fine lines of public policy were concerned, were vague; but may be, after all, the best thing hap- pened. We had still Chase and Seward with us, and Ben Wade and Sumner. But there are times when it is a good thing to have 8 firm hand end no politics at the helm of state, and no civil seryice reform and no se, party sensibility to the trit tion of patter en Grant e President he de poll- clans well and cared little for The West Point idea throughout the war was that if the politicians were killed off there wo! be no trouble. Grant did not say that, but he was not troubled in the least at first as to what our great men in civil life thought. His first cabinet told the story. It was a “staff,” and required some readjustment before it could work; but there was one thi clear, the republican bosses were not parceling out the spoils, and, as a rule, they did not appreciate it, nor did independent journalism approve! The inattention of Gen. Grant to recom- mendations of postmasters and revenue of- ficers was phenomenal, destructive of all Preconceived ideas; but it was rather wholesome. A tremendous lot of things were said. I remember myself to have said a great deal, not in the line of sup- porting the administration, but I could not flatter myself that Grant cared, any more than he could understand what was the matter with me, because I had never asked for anything, and so could not be counted in that sense as disappointed; and there were no hard feelings. When he was President of the United States it required the perspective given by standing in Europe to see how colossal his figure was, towering over the western hemisphere, and it was his voyage around the earth that made him known to him- self as he was known to mankind; and when he came beck through the Golden Gate the defeat of those who sought in his name, with his fame, to overcome the un- written law as to the period that a citizen might be President, he received memorable testimony of devotion of friends, and final- ly illustration of the unsparing loyalty to the traditions of liberty of the American People, so that the failure to call him again to the head of the government, after the immensity of his services. proclaimed the security for all time of the American republic, from the blandishments of a chieftainship, however noble, to accept the rule of a warrior beyond the usages of Peace, howsoever lofty and white his plumes and brave and spotless the luster of his sword. Yet had Grant died after this, passing only placid years, with “honor, love, obed- fence, troops of friends,” we should hardly have been acquainted with him as we know him now—after the passage through the furnace of his affliction of impoverish- ment, and the dark valley under the shadow of the dreadful disease that con- sumed him. When face to face with the grim monster he fought his last battle and won, writing of the history he made for the good of the country he had so greatly Served and largely saved, and the comfort of his beloved wife and their children. It is the rock of St. Helena that is the pel- estal vpon which Napoleon is exalted, for there Gefeated he suffered and died; and {t Is the labor of love, the toil in anguish, the sacrifice in hope, that brightened into victory on Mt. McGregor, that uplifts Grant into a serener atmosphere, with a softer radiance than the glory of a con- queror on the stricken fields of war; and will make ever more his tomb a temple, dedicated to national patriotism—and nis united countrymen will hold kim in honor- ed remembrance—his monument majestic, his memory immortal. es Dedication of Grant's Tomb. In view of the general public interest in the approaching Grant memorial services, Mr. Archibald Hopkins, clerk of the Court of Claims, has written the following poem. A copy of it was sent to Mrs. Grant, who, with other members of the family, ex- pressed her appreciation of the tribute to the memory of Gen. Grant: Let us finish bis tomb midst legions From all the broad land which he fought to make free; ‘Their tramp will re-echo to listening regions Where dwell his old soldiers by mountain and sea. the marching of Once he marshaled a host Mke the sands of the ocean, That came and went hither and von at bis nod; He welded it, wielded it, put it in motion, And launched it to conflict, the right arm of God. Let guns bellow thunder, let musketry rattle; He well knew their voices, when death hovered nigh; § He rode in the midst of the roar of the battle, As cool and unmoved as though not born to die. Wave banners, our banner; he loved and revered it; It led him through many a Mexican fight; And in the great war, on Fame’s sunmit he reared it; Wen back its lost stars, made its glory more bright. Fill all the wide air with the reverberation Of bugle and cymbal, of drum and of fife; In thelr martial refrain, throbs the heart of the Nation; It stirred him, and steeled him to breast the fierce strife, ‘Through carnage most bloods, through losses ap- palling, Undaunted, unflinciting, he pressed to the goal; Reset the great arch of the Union, just falling, And gave the black chattel of bondage a soul. When the struggle was over, and Lee at last ylelded, : No arms were laid down, and no triumph was shown; The pride of the conquered, Grant tenderly chield- ed, And fed Lee's brave soldiers the same as his own. With the South's lowered colors, for him the war ended; His great heart no rancor or hatred could hold; The gray with the blue have in harmony blended; His “Let us have peace,” brought them back to the fold. When the last foe assailed him, with nerve un- diminished, He held him at bay while with faltering pen His hand traced the story until it was finished, Immortal while manhood ts prized among men. In victory serene, in reverses unshaken; A type of our country in manners und birth, By his right arm and genius alone, he bas taken His place for all time, with the great of the earth, We utter bis name with the names of the greatest; ‘Thank God in our annals great names are not scant; First Washington, latest, Our great silent Captain, our hero, our Grant. Lincoln the next, and then His aim was his country’s, bis guide was his duty; His life grand and pure as the gray granite tomb Which will stand by the river, majestic in beauty ‘Till bis armies form ranks at the trump call of doom. —ARCHIBALD HOPKINS. From the Philadelphia North American. Blondy—“Catson never does things by halve Butts—“You bet! He went out the other day to have a tooth pulled, and came back full all over.” A DISASTROU: She Was Only Trying to Economize by Doing Her Own Painting. From the Detroit Free Press. She is a young housewife trying bravely to be economical and proudly announced the other dey that she was painting her own furniture and fixtures this spring. “I should judge so,” sniffed her husband, for the air was filled with the odor of tur- pentine that seemed to become an ingredi- ent of the food. “I knew it when I turned the corner coming home. I'd have such work done away from the house, even if we had to save a few dollars when it comes to buying an Easter bonnet.” “It strikes me that you preach economy and want to practice extravagance. My work looks beautiful and all it cost you was the paint. I really felt happy in the thought that you would show some appreciation, but I suppose I must be content with the approval of my own conscience.” Just as they were about ready to start for & party that evening the wife let cut a piercing shriek. She had thoughtlessly sat down on the edge of the bath tub for a sec- ond, but it was long enough to daub a Whole section of her elegant gown. In his haste to reach her the husband fell over a rocker, streaking and stripping his dress suit with white paint. The pale-faced maid came running and when she saw that no one was killed, threw herself into a chair that stuck to her with all the tenacity of fresh varnish. The coachman at the front door thought it a matter of life and death. He sprang from his seat, gathered paint all along the route and went back to see the team galloping wildly past a distant electric light, while the carriage swung from one side of the street to the other. They did not go to the party. The wife burnt a collection of cheap brusnes und threw a can of paint into the alley. The husband piled furniture into a back shed with the vim of a baggage smasher, aid made a contract with a painter by’ tele- Phone. The maid gave notice and the ceachman is supposed to have headed for his former home in England. ——_- e+ —___ TIDAL FRICTION. lts Effect on the Earth and on the Moon. Dr. H. 8. Willams in Harper's Magazine. Perhaps the most interesting accom- Plishments of mathematical astronomy— from a mundane standpoint, at any rate— are those that refer to the earth's own sat- ellite. That seemingly staid body was long ago discovered to have a propensity to gain a little on the carth, appearing at eclipses an infinitesmal moment ahead of time. Astronomers were sorely puz- zied by this act of insubordination; but at last Laplace and Lagrange ex- plained it as due to an oscillatory change in the earth’s orbit, thus fully exonerating the moon, and seeming to demonstrate the absolute stability and permanence of our planetary system, which the moon’s misbe- havior had appeared to threaten. This highly satisfactory conclusion was an orthodox belief of celestial mechanics until 1853, when Prof. Adams of Neptunian fame, with whom complex analyses were a pastime, reviewed Laplace's calculation, and discovered an error, which, when cor- rected, left about half the moon’s accel- eration unaccounted for. This was a mo- mentous discrepancy, which at first no one could explain. But presently Prof. Hem- holtz, the great German physicist, sug- gested that a key n:ight be found in tidal friction, which, acting as a perpetual brake on the earth’s rotation, and affect- ing not merely the waters but the entire substance of our planet, must in the long sweep of time have changed its rate of ro- tation. Thus the seeming acceleration of the moon might be accounted for as actual retardation of the earth’s rotation—a lengtheaing of the day, instead of a short- ening of the month. Again the earth was shown to be at fault, but this time the moon could not be exon- erated, while the estimated stability of our tem, instead of being re-established, Was quite upset. For the tidal retardati is not an oscillatory change which will presently correct itself, like the orbital wobble, but a perpetual change, acting al- ways in one direction. Unless fully coun- teracted by some opposing reaction, there- fore (as it seems not to be), the effect must be cumulative, the ultimate consequences disastrous. The exact character of these consequences was first estimated by Prof. G. H. Darwin in 1879. He showed that tidal friction in retarding the earth must also push the moon out from the parent planet on a spiral orbit. Plainly, then, the moon must formerly have been ncarer the earth than at present. At some very re- mote period it must have actually touched the earth; must, in other words, have been thrown off from the then plastic mass of the earth, as a polyp buds out from its pa- rent polyp. At that time the earth was spinning about in a day of from two to four hours. Now the day has been lengthened to twenty-four hours, and the moon has been thrust out to a distance of a quarter mil- lion miles; but the end is not yet. The same progress of events must continue, till, at some remote period in the future, the day has come to equal the month, lunar tidal action has ceased, and one face of the earth looks out always at the moon, with that same fixed stare which even now the moon has been brought to assume to- ward her parent orb. Should we choose to take even greater liberties with the future, it may be made to appear (though some astronomers dissent from this prediction) that, as solar tidal action still continues, the day must finally exceed the month, and lengthen out little by little toward coinci- dence with the year; and that the moon meantime must pause in its outward flight, and come swinging back on a swinging spiral, until finally, after the lapse of un- told aeons, it ploughs and ricochets along the surface of the earth, and plunges to catastrophic destruction. But .even though imagination pause far short of this direful culmination, it still is clear that modern calculations,’ based on inexorable tidal friction, suffice to revolu- tionize the views formerly current as to the stability of the planetary system. The eighteenth century mathematician looked upon this system as a vast celestial ma- chine which had been in €xistence about six thousand years, and which was des- tined to run on forever. The analyst of today computes both the past and the fu- ture of this system in millions instead of thousands of years, yet feels well assured that the solar system offers no contradic- tion to those laws of growth and decay which seem everywhere to represent the immutable order of nature. = A Matter of “U's” and “Double L's.” From the Chap Book. It may not generally be known, but the United States copyright law is at present doing more than anything else to delay the development of spelling reform in this country. As it stands at present, in order to secure copyright on a work by an Eng- lish author, the typography and presswork must be done in the United States—this in the interests of American industries. It happens that no law of this sort exists in England, and the result is coming to be that—whenever time will permit—the com- positon for both countries is done here and a set of plates is sent abroad. This is a direct and definite-saving for every one concerned. The English publisher knows, however, that the English public will not stand American spelling. On the other hand, the American public will stand English spelling. The first condition of taking plates is, therefore, that English spelling shall be used throughout. The American publisher has no choice. This is @ practice which is growing, instead of dying. It is a matter of considerable im- portance in the publisher’s economies, and it cannot be overlooked. At the same time, it is speedily destroying all chance of spell- ing reform as applied to new books. It may be added that no literary reform which is adopted only by newspapers can be of great weight. The magazines have it in their power to exert great influence, for they do circulate in England, and their ‘merican. spelling is Ai The time may come when the British e American but it is at present out public can be f The only rational com- Promise would seem to be that in both -countries British authors should be printed English and with 4 = thors with ae not made infuriate by pe English public might ans cotomenss Aseerions: "s. English. Time scvept without u’s or du- if you get a package like this, It contains the genuine OLD Joust It cleans everything and cleans it quickly and cheaply. Largest package—greatest economy. THE N. K. FAIRBANK COMPANY, . St. Louis, New Yor’, Bosto: Philadelphia. From the Chicago Record. The longest distance ever encompassed by the human vision, so far as the records go, is 183 miles, between the Uncompahgre Peak, in Colorado, and Mount Ellen, in Utah. This feat was accompltshed by the surveyors of the United States coast and geodetic survey, who are now engaged, in conjunction with representatives of other nations, in making a new measurement of the earth. The observers on the Pacitic coast have been able to signal from Mount Stasta to Mount Helena, a distance of 190 miles, but have never been able to get a response. Between the other two peaks communication has been continuous for an hour or more on several occasions. The Urcompahgre is 14,30) feet in height, while Mount Ellen is 13,400 feet. The longest dis- tance that the human eye ever reached un- til this record was made was between Al- giers and Spain, 168 miles. — French Method. From Life. “Can he actually give his pupils a work- ing knowledge of French in five weeks?” “He doesn’t try to. 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