The New York Herald Newspaper, June 13, 1875, Page 5

MACHIAS CENTENNIAL, The Sons of Machias Commemorating the Glorious Deeds of 1775. AN ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICAN VALOR Address of Mr. Talbot. Church Services, Crations, Procession and Banquet Yesterday. George F. MACHIAS, Me., June 12, 1875. The Centennial observances to-day have been a complete success, The depression by the recent heavy fire did not abate the zeal of the people of Machias, With one spirit they joinea in commem- erating the Centennial of the battle fougut in the harbor of Machias, June 12, 1775, in wien the British sloop of war Margaretta struck its flag and surrendered to the victorious Americans and sons of Machias, At an early hour flags were dis- played from all public buildings, vessels, stores and houses, Never before was sucha display of bunting in the town. A national salute was fired at sunrise, and the bells rung under auspices of Bradbury Post, G.A.R. By nine o’clock the atreets were crowded with strangers coming from Calais, Eastport, Labec, Pembroke, Cherryfleld and the towns on the original territory of Machtas, Among the visitors are Governor Dingley and wife, N. B, Natt, Collector of Passamaquoddy and wile, James A. Milliken and a long list of names, descendants of those engaged in the battle and of the first settlers of the town. A pine ‘ree, nearly torty feet high, was raised on the site of the one raised by O’Brien and his comrades a century ago. The old Burnham House, used as a hospital for the wounded in 1775, bore on its walls the following :- PO OOLO DOLE LOLELE OODLE DE DODETEDOIELE NEDO IOLE NEE Tavern and flos ical, 1775. ODL COLEA YE NEEEELELE DO LELOLELELE DEDEDE DOLEDE DD On the Post Office, which occupies the site of the late Jadge Jones’ house; the site of the house where Captain Moore, of the Margaretta, died; Fort Hill, the site of the old church where Moore leaped out of the window on Sunday; the brook where O’Brien and bis men resolved to make the attack; the point where Sabatus, the Indfan, fired bis long shot, and all other places of battle history were prop- erly dosiguated, Relics of the battle were exaibited—the medicine chest, a horse pistol bearing date 1761, @ tea Kettle, cartridge boxes, | muskets, five pound balls and other things used in the sloops Liberty and Margaretia, aud tho sword worn oy Colonel O’Brien, THE PROCESSION. ‘The procession formes at ten o'clock under Cap- tain Thomas P. Hutchinson, marshal; Heury R. ‘baylor, Charles F. Stone and others as a: Braabury Post, fifty saddles mounted in Macalas Cornet Band; soluiers of the war of 1812; oMcers ol the day, Governor Dingley and invitea guests, Committee of Arrangements, federal, State, county and sown Officers, drum corps, visitors and citizens m carriages, The procession was two miles long. Tne lolilowing veterans of the war of 1812 were seated in 4 large cairiage and joined in the procession snd the dinner Stepben Goynton, George Burnham, Levi Bow- ker, Otis Bryant, Jotn Berry, John Hughes, Jonn Atuss, Isaac Richards, Zebulon Baker, William | Elsmore, Sylvanus Seavy, Larkin, Lawrence, Solomon Munson, Joba Larrabee, Luther Libby, John Getchel!, Gustavus F, Kilton, Cyrus W. Fos- tor, Samuel Watts and Thomas Hill. The route was Maia sireet, across the covered bridge, through the principal streets, on Dublin side; across the jJower brydg . through the principal streets on the east side, and to Centre street church, where the services were attended by au immense crowd. In the open air the following oration was delivered by Mr. George F. Talbot:— ADDRESS OF GEORGE F. TALBOT, OF PORTLAND. By a singular mental law ull men associate the events of general history, well as Ul striking ipcidents of their perso: lives, with the periodic recurrence of the tme 'wheu they happene The game day of tne month, | still more the same day Of the year on which ome great deed was done or some great sorrow suffered, comes back to our minds Hilastrious with the glory or shrouded With the sadness which frst made it memoravie, Bus when the century rounds its great circle the heroic shades of-our ancestors seem to reappear among the throngs | that they would expect to be kept fro! ™ + | twenty-five by forty feet, had been built oa the Vat form the endless procession of tne street, and to (ake their places in the circle of the fire- sid id our memories are thrilled with tre story of their explous. It matiers not jou; thaton the handredin rid, never revurning to the same point same cenditions, @ new region of | taat old eveuts, old manners, old ideas siasm NO More Come back to us than | Go the old peope Whom they vuce affected; that, as King Artnur sings :— ‘The old order changeth, yiniding place to new, iuifis Hiaselrin many ways, Lest oue good custom shouid corrupt the world. It i only a jew years since it was my good jortune, then a citizen of this wwn, to unite with my iriends sna neighbors in celevrating the centennial anniver- | sary of its settiement. | e: | the opportunity wit J of coming back to a community Which will always bave for me the attractions of home, to comm ate those daring achievements by which our fore. fathers bere aided t reat work of national in- depenuence and fixed the destiny of the people of frontier count of Maine, witn 100 miles. giving — them m the = prosperous fortuses aud | rand responsibilities of & seli.governed epublie, instead of ijeaving them coijonial dependents upoa a Monarchy on the orher side of the Atlantic Ocean, It was omly tweive years aiter that first settlement by seventeen hardy aaventurers woeu the high-spirited people, ee i e | | could muster only 100 fguting men, sét fiance the British navy, relieved themselves by a victorious defence f the calamities of actual war and Kept the Migister o! tae Eng! King ta chronic alarm, lest, not content wita winniug safety at home, they suould break out into iu- | vasion and steat irom the Crown the tefiitory 4 alegiance of Nova Scotia, a leat whica they came near accomplishing. YANKEES OF THE YANKERS. The Britism invaston came in condict with the aroused national feeling &t Macuias jast as it did at Lexington anc Concord ana Banker Mul. The peopie 0; Machias of 1776 were Yankees of tae Yankees. | ‘They belonged to Massachucetis and believed in Massachusetts poittics and Massachusetts religion, | just as they bave till today. They entered en- thosiasticaily aud unanimously into the quarrel of their native State, and if Massachusetts was gotng tw war with George Ill. they were going to war With Bim Without one thought of tn ces and Without waiting to know whether another colony or another man was likely to back them. Wheao Revolution broke out about eigmy their home in the old towyghip of With them the frst consideration had proximity 80 comyenient for schools, | i coumunioation 'd, Dut & good site aod plenty of land, which should give a home- stead for themselves ana tueir posterity. So win their 250-acre Orst division lots they occapied both banks of the river, [rom the sea and its branehea, East, West and Middie rivers, Tne sixteen seven- acre lots of the first millowners made here the nucieas of the viliage. A lumbering comman ergetically at stated seasons, but i hours and days of fi our ancestors, following have never lost, gaswe! bank of the ri sitting upon the | pines that nd there skirted | ver the aifairs of the pation. T lately got in irom Boston. Cap’ by merchant, who owns perhaps t proud @ man to spend muck time with the loale: Who are whitting their shirtsieeves. But the captain Of the Poily ts too full of Inteliigence to lose the opportunity of openii his budget belore & crowd of exclied listeners. he is diieait 10 ex- | aggeraie the importance of the captain of a coaster In those days, fle was the newspaper, the mall and the telegraph, all compinea, He brought to the people the news, the fasnio ad the opinions, a8 weil as the bats and sao on; anc ro ime Bet~ wement only e times @ year must have been an event \mportant e gh vo draw together from Weir scattered lots ail the men of the colony. They came to trade ior goods, for which tity were always waiting cl to aear how the Boston peo- along in their quarrei with the long vadiy choagh. Krom resisting the Stamp act and throwing overboard (he taxed tea it had come to actual war. A thonsand men had deed marched into the intertor as far as Con- cord, when the Jarmersa of the back towns gatl- ered at the bridge and began to fire upon them, | The soldiers recreared. 84 militiamen, coming Up | | \t Bappened to our fathers, | ments in the ol \ = of the English oMcers iu their gay uni- | have veen. from all the country round, chased them wounding bundr the Polly’s captain d saw the bieedi to Charlestown, killing pernnne them. Char! a ext day ans ark corpses of the slain taken out ofthe boats, It was great news to hear and great news to tell; let us believe he told it well, WHAT CAPTAIN JONES DID. It has been too much taken for granted by our local historians that Captain Jones sided with the tories in the struggle for independence. Ii he did itis diMcuit to onderstand why Judge Jones, his nephew, who entered Inio all nis counsels, was such a zealous patriot and republican. He prova- bly felt as merchants generally do when war im- pends, that interrupts ali their commerce and threatens destruction to all their fortunes. The aipiculties ith the home government he believed and hoped would be se . Besides, he was in the enemy’s power and had to make the best terms he could, He wanted to extricate his family and household effects, well as lis ves- sels, from mM, and he could only do so by agreeing to take back lumber for which the military authorities were to pay, there being then uo other market for it, Tua: he stood well with vhe promoters of the Revolution is evident Jrom the fact that the selecumen of Boston —‘farnis! bm with petinon to the peop Machias desiring them not to bind him in bis enterprise, He seems to have proceeded with the prudence characteristic of his calling; tor before opening his hatches and offering his goods for sale he ex- acted trom the people @ stipulation that they, on thetr part, Would not molest him. He tried to get an obligation generally signed by the citizens by which they were to bind themselves to allow nim to carry lumber to Boston and protect him and his property. But thiswmany of the people re- fused to sign, and then, av his desire, a town meeting was called, which must have been some- what Stormy. At last @ Vote, not unanimous, was obtained to permit the vessels to load and sail and Jones began te open his batches and retail bis gooas to his old customers, sut it is said he made @ discrimination, refusing credit to those who had been prominent in obstracting his Wishes, so that on the whole there was more ex- asperation ol feeling than hearty accord pro- duced by vote of the town extorted Ullder gach circumstances, Bat it is prob- able that ie Rion granted im tke vote would Ba jen carried out in good faith bed mot the captain of the Margaretta Pg tpn tg provoked a quarrel! witn the inhabitants. The Machias people had recetved notice in some way through the procia- mation of the Provincial Congress that hostilities had commenced by an invasion into the very heart of Massachusetts and by the slaughter of its citizens, and were invited to take sides with their fellow citizens m resisting the evident attempt of the British government to deprive them of the liberty and right of everument they had en- joyed ever since the! jonjal charters, THE LIBERTY POLE They résponded to this invitation with zeal and unanimity, and raised a liberty pole to stand aa a symbol of their patriotism. Captain Moor, of the Margaretta, when he jearned how the liberty pole was erected and what it signified, ordered it be taken down, under the threat of firin, upon tne town. town meeting was hel and voted with great spirit tuat the liberty pole should stand, bu even then Jones inauced Captain Moor to withhold hosttli- tes until a falier and r town meeting, which he promised should be held on the 14th of June, and Which should take final action tn the matier, In the uieantime the leading patriots, knowing that the town would never yield the point, looked round to see what means they had for deience and Tesistance, THE PATRIARCH OF THE SETTLEMENT. There was then living at Kast River a sort of patriarch of the settiement, Benjamin Foster, the Jather of a numerous family and a man of consideration through bis long life in both State and Caurch affairs. Tbe sixteen settiers of 1763 had brought ms brother, Wooden Foster, with them be thelr biacksmith—an artisan Indispensacle in @n tsoiated lumbering community. He himself came in 1765, and, betng @ man of substance and enterprise, took up a lot at River aaa built the rst sawmill there, At the time of the event we are now celevrating he was about fifty years of age, and, baying been present asa soldier at the capture of Louisburg m 1745, and having served under General Abercrombie in the Frenca and Indian war ten years later, he was probabiy the man of the largest military experience in the Woole settlement, As such he was made leuten- aut of the first mulitta company, i 1769, Judge Jones being its captam. Foster was the most prominent Manin plauming and organizing the expedition that led ‘o the capture of the Marga- retta. The sons of Morris O’Brien—one of them, Colonel Jeremiah, the jeager—won tue renown of the actual capture. “ DIVIDED COUNSELS, Their counsels were divided. favor vf making prisoucrs of the oficers and men of the cutter and taking possession of the now pai tiy laden sioops of Captain Jones ana of the Margaretta, their convoy. More timid men must have urged that the town Bad voted to let the | sloops be ioaded and depart, and it was only on that condition that they had procured their sup- plies and it was only by periorming tneir promie m starvation heresiter, But sag coojiness of Foster aud the Imperiale ol the O’Driens overwhelmed all c culations of prudence. Foster, weary of the d: KS & crook near ‘which they were nding and called out to ali who favorea the captare of the Margaretta and toe two sloeps to follow bim, and ultim every man stood e Foster wis in j side, This was Sunday, toe 11th of June. Was a devout ian, but no doubt he be- lt to be engaged in the Lord’s busi- A it dt Ress on that day. ately agreed at meeting 1 lan of attack was immed ue Enguish officers would A rude puttdin: site of your Town Hail. it haa benches arranged gn each side of a central aisle, It was decided to attempt to surround whe church and seize the om. | cers auring service. Part of the cumpavy re- Maived under Foster to do this at the proper Juucture, and the rest dispersed, attending caurcn ae Worshippers, though perhaps giving less heed thau suai to the services. hey bad brought their guns and secreted them outsiae the buid- ing. Jo! O'Brien says he bid his gun under a board and took his seat | on @ beneh behind ‘aptain Moor, reajy at the first alarm, The day was warm Of the little tabernacle open. Now see the dange overiookin the negro element. in our late grest war we suf- fered everywhere delay, disaster not taking the negro into our cor 1 have no doubt Parson Lyon was fully sessed of the plot bis | flock were engaged in. Taere were wariike sent!- | samiliar psalms he mignt bave selecied that morning without exciting the sus- forms and decorous @emeanor. But London Atw wwe aacestor of ail the Atuses, the jored se: vant of Mr. Lyon, had not been taken the cop- fidence of the military leaders. In some perch of a negro pew, With a better outdoor view than Insi audience, he got ew of aimed men (Poste:’s and) crossing & foot bridge teat connected two islands on the falis, and, cut of the window, Tne example, aud by the time Foster's force had reached the meeting house bad reached their ves- sel, aud Captain Joues b n self in the woods, ain Moor weighed ancnor at once and proceeded down the river. roster and O’brien then determined to seize Jones’ s.\00ps aod pursue tae culver, One of these—ine Polly— could uet have been in a condition to be availabie, | ON BOARD UNITY. Perhaps A! was already too ily laden, bat the u'Briens took possession of the Unity, and @ur- ing the rest of Suaday mustered a crew of volun- teers numbering in all avout forty men, and Fos- ter went to the East River to ge: a schooner theie | and @ volunteer crew to join in the enterprize. riy in the next morning they proceeded down wwe river from voth villages, fhe East River vessel got aground and had noshare in the battle. O1 the party on board the Unity only half had for these there were only rest armed t) nd narrow axes, So sud- den and impulsive 4d been the expedition that up to this time it had been ay uporeal d mob, Bat as, with @ favoring wind, they sailed down the river they had ieisure to complete their plana, Jeremiah O’Brien, the olaest of tee brothers, was made Captain and Edmund Stevens Lieuten- ant, and knowing they had no powder to waste in ots they determ! to Dear down upoa the ard her and decide the contest at on We all know the beautiful of our trebly branching y enclosed besween shelte islands and steep and rocky cliffs that make Es maca tad by it mast iii 3 been bejore tne axe 0. ¢ jorest, an fires nad bare ie 8 rites ae iotasos, not only of the ancient jurest, but of the soil thas supported It, and ie/t the blanched, bleak rock to be reflected upon the quiet surface of the sea, where the in- Yerted woous once spread their margin of green! | little eye had those stalwart youths for | all that beauty; the splendor of their herotsin has jairly oatsbone {t all, beautiful as it may the Bast River schooner } der? They ol KNOW; Forty undisciplined are in onase of a vessel armed with sixt Where wai of men, without any ta pe it adventure. The bravery at Lexington and Concord, where several hundred militiamen fired Upon retreating regulars [rom Deming tr fei tone wails, or of Bunker Hill, waere mainly ind earthwork tered from shot weil- uccessive assanits of a Of battle, was certainly not | apneed than thay ido not know of auy feat in all the war, or of any war, that for daring and desperate courage can be comparea wite it. THE ENEMY IN stant. As the sloop opened out into the broad river be- | low Macniasport Yn A the enemy came in sight within ing sloop and told ner to Keep off or he wen! back @ demand for surrender, | Foster | Middle River wher O'Brien te And Stephens am emphatic defiance. Moor with: id his fire, and the breeze strengthening set ail s Sails aud tried to escape. It is easy 10 see that Captain Moor owed the jou of Dis Vessel and nis life to his own sation, cannot think to his cowardice, THR BATTLE FovcnT, When he stood out to sea again the sloop was close upon him and @ Collision Unavoldapie, So he opened Gre aad killed one maa on board (he sioop. The sloop answered with a Volley of shot, and soon afterwards the veseeis came together apd JORD O'Krign laened on noard te eettor sis sti tical at uta i aaa aa NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, JU ‘Brien je says him without effect, upon him the rail and swam to apart, leaving Then the vessels hy i ol the enemy. alone on the quarter d seven musi and when the Ww Captal of the sioop Tarcugh the mailusail of the cutter, and twenty men armed with pitchior.s rushea upon her deck. While in contactor at very close range musket shots nad been exchanged, the assailants using all their ammunition. One mas was killed, one mortally and one seriously wounded upon the sloop. Five were killed or mortally wounded ou board the Margaretta—Caprain Moor, who was shot through by two musket balls early in the action, the man at the helm, so that the cutter browcued too and was run into, Captain Kobert Avery, the impressed skipper of the Holmes’ Bay Coaster, and two sailors or marines, ‘The hamoer Wounded is not known, Joun O’Brien says the American vessel had jour killed and eight or nme wounded, and the British ten killed and ten wounded. Buc he says himself that he does not remember the number, but gives lt upon the au- thority of @ letver of Captain Josepn Wheaton, written to O’Brien, in which he Claims to have been present as one of the sloop’s Mr. Smith gives the name of John Wheaton as one of the heroes, and there may have been aiso a Joseph Wheaton. I have followed Mr, Smith’s statement of the number of killed and wounded as more probably correct and more nearly agree- Ing With local tradition. GIVING UP THE SHIP. The error by which Captaim Moor forfeited his vessel and bis life was in not using his neay. gurs While tne sloop was at long range and bai no effective means of returning the fire, When the vessels were in contact iis superior arma- ment had become unavailabie, The tiring of the Americans had be id murderous, and pman, Stulingneet, next In command, was pauic-stricken aud fed below and gave up the ship, The English ofl- cers did not know that the ammunition of their enemy had been exbausted, and the assault was voo flerce wna hot for tne reloading o/ empty mus- kets. Ip @ haud-to-band contest & pitchiork—not the slender and elastic implement our factories now turn out, but such @ si@ut and rude doubio spear Wooden Foster would iorge upon his anvil, set in @ long ash pole—was a formidabie were fired rt ri um ped ov Weapon in the hands of # man who knew how to use it The very nov- elty of the weapon, against Which their tactics and drill had wnant them po effective ‘uard, may have dismayed the marines, At any ate the boarding of the cutter seems to have been the @) 4d 4 Ay strie, and there was nothing else to do but take care of tue wounded, secure their prize and return to the settlement to eiec- trily their friends with the news of sheir qaooess, They had purcaased their victory by the death of two men—Coolbroth and McNeil. John Berr. who lived at Hadley’s Lake, received @ sev wound in bis head, for which he afterward ceived a pension, and Isaac Tait and Joseph O wi sligatly wounded. John O’Srien relates that us soon as Kis brother Jeremiah was elected Cap- tain he gave leave to all who were afraid to joia in the attack to leave and offered them a boat, and that three méu avatied themselves of his offer, He also hat the whole six of the O’Brien brovhers—Jeremiah, Gideon, John, Wiiliaw, Den- nis aud Joseph—partictpated In the action, and that Morris O’Brien Was only prevented from accompanying them by the reinonstrances of bis sons, Besides these, let us forage ee among the heroes, whose lame t celebration chiefly commemorates, every name that tradition ae brewenrens There was Edmund Stevens, of Addison, Who shouted back defiance When Moor threatened to fire; much Watts, ancestor, L think, of tne Engilishman’s River Wattses; Jonathan Knight, ome of the first settlers of Calais, and who has descendants there ; Steele and Merritt, from Pleasant Kiver (tue name is still erved im that region); Josich Weston, fore- Jatuer the Jonesboro Westons; Jonn berry, isaac Taft and James Cole, who were wounded; Natnaniel Credilorth, Josiah Libby, John Wheaton, Wulham Fendersoa, Ezekiel Foster, son or grand- son of Isaiah, brother of the Colonel; Simeon Brown, Samuel Whiting, Elias Hoyt and Josepn Getchell, ancestor of those weli-esteemed peovie who have chiefly made their home at Marsnfeid (he always claimed to bave stepped on the Maryga- retta’s deck foot to foot with Joun O’Brien), and, last of all, Kichard Harie, colored servant of Col- onel Jere O'Brien, making good by bis courage the indiscretion of bis race taat bad deieavea the bloodless enterprise of the day belore. THE UNITY AND HER PRIZE. Great must have been tae exuitation at Machias when the Unity and her prize came up wiih tie returning tide to West Fails, suberea somewhat | by grief ior the slain and the general respect and vegret which was felt for the untimely death of tne young English Captain. As a parc of tne preparations of Sunday a messenger had been despatened to Chandier’s River to precure powder and bali, and as the men of that settlement were | all absent at Machias—many of them, a¢ we have een In the expedition—two women, Hannan and Rebecca Weston, Rimeteen and seyeuteen years old, procured thirty or forty pounds of powder and balls and brought them to Macnias turough The woods, iollowing @ line of biaved trees, and arriving at the sevtiems it two o’clock im the alternoon afte captare of the Margaretta. A Committee of Safety was elected, woo had the control of the military and civil affairs during the remainder of the war. The armament of the Margaretta was transferred to the si00 Unity, which was fitted up with buiwarks an med the Machias Liversy, and Jeremiah O’Brien, commander, cruised for three weeks off the coast trying to capture the Diligence, a Britisn coast survey vessel, jower harbor the middle of July, with an armed tender. Tue oMficers and part of the crew landed at Buck’s Harbor, as they said, to learn the fate of the Margaretta, and were surprised and cap- tured by Captain stephen Simito, grandfather of Bartlett Smith, our lamented historian, and the next aay O'Brien in the Liberty and Foster in the Falmouth packet voarded and captured, without resiatance, both the Diligence and her tender. On the 26th of June the Provincial Congress passed a vote of thanks to Captain Jeremiai O’Brien and Captain Benjamin Foster and the brave men under their command for these heroic exploits, and jaced at tneir disposal tne two sloops and tbe Kargaretea, which they had taken. THE SPIRIT OF THE DESCENDANTS, Have the beroic epirit and bigh courage of our foreiathers, exbibited a hundred years ago in the achievement which we celebrate, ceased to chi acterize their descendants? Withim our recent memory the trial of these quaities nas come, and the, all the municipalities into jed, gave its full quota of e old town, bica it had been @ brave men to swell the t marched to distant battle flelds to de- fend against treason and rebeilion the equal righis jor which their fathers fought at nome. it cher- tue memory of its full proportion of hundreds of thousands of martyrs by wnose bloo eur new union and nationality were purcnased. THR CULTURE OF THE PEOPLE. With as everything depends upon tue culture of the people, and wi More aad more im this community and tnt» na- tion—the dominant consideration, the interes: for which taxation is to be generously borne, and while it is kept from being specialized anda di- verted by sectarian control we may feel assured that no taise theories of economy can peutly bold their piace; t popalar intelligence ‘will discriminate between the virtuous and patri- otic citizens and those who are base and corrapt, and that the progress of the next centary wili lar- nish tO our descendants some levoments in accomplishing the hgn destiny of our country and of mankind more wortny oi celebration than those we to-day commemorate. DECORATIONS OF ThE CHURCH. The church was beautifully decorated. Flags, Sircamers, evergreens, mottoes, flowers and wreaths were in pro‘usion, and caids on the walls, bearing =the =a of O’Brien, aud ali otners who took part in the battle. The names of two women were con- spicuous—Hanoah Weston and Rebecca Weston— who brought forty pounds of powder ten miles from Jonesboro, through the woods, to be used in A powder born of 1775 hung over tae the West Amcdel of the sloop Lid near the pulpit in the caurch, THE BANQU' After the services were over the formed and marched to the Baptist church, on Dublin Hil, To's church occupies the ay that Gideon O’Brien’s house did tne day of the Battic. Plates were ready for 300, George Walker pre- sided after dinner. Ignatius Sargent, toast master, read the following toasts :—‘The State Maine,” responded to by Governor Dingley; nt of the United States,” responded to by Mr. N. Nutt, of Eastport, Othe? toasts and speeches followed, The weather has been deli om Was partially obscured by fog. graves of the heroes of 1775, the O'brien: chelis and others, were visiied and de with flowers, Flags were at fi burial go where the patriots of 177 rest. Visitors were merous at the spet on allast stones are which Were cast out of the Margaretta, June 14, 1775. The pe ‘ple of Machias ‘a joné nobiy im com. memoratiag the deeds of their fathers, and are not noworthy of any of the many battle fields of the Union, whose céntennials are fost ying At sunset a national sainte Was fired, the bell rang nd tae dand piayed in the open air, while ti throng of spectators witnessed a fine disp! fireworks. The day closed gloriously. A BOY SHOT DEAD. Yesterday morning before nine o'clock two boys, named George Hittel, and Thomas Crosby, vistied a ‘arm belonging to Mr. Welcenmeyer for the pur- pose of purchasing vegetables, While the work- men were collecting the vegetables the report of a gun was heard, When the men rushed back to the place where the report was heard they found that young Hittel was dead. he was shot im the back and over the right shoulder blade, Tho gun was jound sixteen feet from the place where the body 1ay, Lhe iather of the deceased, Mr, Sellers Hittel, ts six: rs old and is the father of twenty-tnree children, thirteen ol whom are living, The deceased was fourtecn years of age, while bis companion was one year younger. ine affair is most mysterious, as it is hot at all probable that the boy Crosby fired the suo Intentionally ab Mis companion. Crosby states that iiftel was in the act of fring the gun when he shot hrinseif; pat this story is so improbable rocessien re- O’Brien next ran the bowsprit | The Diligence came inte the | have been found affected by no degener- | ‘grand army of two mili- | education is made—as itis | i | stand m need of its a NK 13, 1875 —QUADRUPLE SHEET. WEST POINT. The Art of Hazing and the Way It Is Looked Upon by Cadets. THE COMING OF THE PLEB} West Pornr, June 12. 1875. ‘The aosence of tnat darling of tno cadets, the ever familiar “pleb,”” has probably done as much as anything else to take sway from the life of the cadet barracks this season a great deal of that spirit of excitement and tun that used to make 8 stranger’s visit to the Pomt something | long to be remembered. The pied has always been and ever will be one of the institution of the academy. Every ofiicer of the army, high and low, can remember the day when he went through his regular or irregular “course of sprouts,” and how, though he bitterly complained and lamented and tried to assert his rights a8 a man and a citl- zen, bis volce died away unanswered in the nollows behind the camp, where he was probably unceremoniously dumped ont of a wheelbarrow | py, but | with his warrior’s night cloak around him. though we have not the plebwith us now we are to have bim, and the very fact that he must come sooner or later does much to console the boys who will be compelled to remain here | guring the summer for their enforced encamp- ment. The reason we have him not now Is that a regulation was made some time ago, vy which it was provided that he should not disturb the equa- nimity of the corps until @ day or so before the graduates would be ready toleave. Though there are many of the aspirants of the pleb species ; jor major gener: ® Who live in this State, not far from this fonee, to be seen prowling about at parade time & “8% NOW THE THING 18 DONE,” the pleb proper will not be La barracks until about the 15th inst, Then the visitor to the Point may be made sappy at the expense of fathers and mothers who come pere with the dear boys, feel- ing as though they were delivering them over to the slaughter pen of some unlicensed human butcher who is to stratghtway cut their ears off, by way of testing his knife before cutting the poor fellows mto piec for the market, It is quite amusing to the cadets, by the way, when they hear anybody talk about the horrible custom of “hazing” and what a blessing it is that it is done away with. The present Secretary of War, you may remember, tried his very test to putanendto the custom, That he has succeeded iu stamping out the cruel practices which some of the “yearling” cadets used to indulge in at the expense of the hew comers there can jo doubt; but whether be has put an end to hagng alto- theris questionable, The term covdgs a great Geal or ground, and a cadet, as one of tne cor to me to-day in talking on the subject, knows his business,” can ma “woo e a “pled! feel his inferlerity without in any way overstepping u bounds Of paternal kindness. The grin the rascal put on as be made this remark, and the emphasis be placed on “kindness,” would have made the Secretary of War, had he seen bim, feel like comparing Webster with all other Kkaown dic- tionaries to find out the exact meaning of the word, There Was a time when a “pleb’s" life was & miserable one, when he was compelled to ao Menial service for the pinere ever of course with the knowledge of an ofléér, But what pleb, im the good old days when a “greenie” pad to be brougat down to his level, as the gray coats had it, dared to report ais tormentors? A®@ bar- barous custom, hazing here i# really at am end, and eb to-day has reaily less to fear in com- ing to the academy than ever before. The au- tuorities in Washington have beeu very deter. mined on this point, and everybody here kyows that one angry word ‘from the War Omce strikes. more terror into the soul of the cadet than the preaching of all the ministers ia the land could, taking it tor granted that annoying @ new arrival out of nis iife ts @ high crime and misdemeanor. But we all’ Know that in the past the pied taat had been treated more barbarously than any otaer member of his class turned ont to be the next year, when ne himseli was a cadet, the most inexorable tyran- niger over the plcbs put under bis tender care than any of his fellows. One would think at first blush that the mere thought of his own tortures would arguse a (eekng of pity in the “yearling” for the omer, Wao, like himeeif a year ve- jore, came FRESH FROM HIS COUNTRY BOMB with the tears in his eyes because he had to leave mamma benind. However, the rule worked th ether way. In one respect ti eXations a pled was and is yet ina small way subjected to by the cadets bas @u excellent effect, at least all cadets say it Das, and most of tne army eficers would opealy agree with them if they could speak their minds freely and not ¢fend against good di crpline, and that is t Mt brings everybody in tt corps to a common level. The importance of this can be well understood when you take into con- sideration the peculiar nature of the West Point Academy as a college. Boys of all classes and ail grades of society enter it, The rich aad the poor have to share the same fare and subject them- selves to the same discipiine. The President's son and the washerwoman’s may be roommates. | | The cadets contend that to make the haughty, rich fellow, With all bis grand atra obtained at home by eXciusive association with young m: bobs of his own ilk and fortune, consider the poor boy as good a8 himself as a cad ¢ must be “geasoned.”? Said a cadet to me on this subject:— “Ifevery pieb coutd come In bere and act as he pleased we'd have nothing but eliques of rich and clans of poor, and t would be no brotnerly feehng in the corps. Dat a fellow must under- stand whea he comes to West Point, whether his fatner is In the Wo ig shat be comes to who acts like # gentieman and does his duly is just as good as any other.” I may Say just vere toat l remember FRED GRANT AS A CADET, and that he was sensible enough aimost from the first day he came to understand this view of the case, and he never had reasoa to regret that he aids You would be surprised, doubtiess, if I told that there are now two general officers 1m the army who believe in the good that hazing can do as Grmly as @ religious mau believes in bis creed. One is & Major gen tue other ranks not so nigh. the major eral was @ “yearling” cadet many years ago, when the other came pieb, with grand and lofty airs, bomiuated even for thing aimost to the Pr to allow Jamiliar “social standing” he had not previously investi- gated and found satisfactory. “Why,” said this gentleman, and he told the story to a crowd of officers one evening long ago, ‘how do you think itended? After being obstinate I became so gentic that | used to burmien that cadet’s musket and belt plates for him, and, aiver carrying water in pats to him in his tent for over a week—and he made me carry mat y pail day—he took me by the pia now well Se) mi shook hands; anc soca twe of the adetship was tne next st iriends in the ‘eveiting’ I got as @ pied I passabie cadet nor have to treat other men under ine properly.” Thus much for the effects of one naz- it may be @ bad and it may be a good thing hole, according to the Way one looks at it; but a listie of itsome good omcers think might { | present examination is not the only standard by which the cadets of even class ure judyeo. Every merit apd demerit of the year comes, into play, and a@ of late years ‘“discipline”—in otuer words, good condnct—ranhks in point of merit as bigb as civil and military engineering itself, even @ cadet who may liave stood very bigh in’every branch of his studies may be brought low in the | end by his demerits’ wader the head ot “discipline.” It is quite possible that if there was the general average jor the first plice between two cadets Clat the one who ranked the highest 10 matters of absolute study would be Lies tue preference; but a3 i understand # con- ingency of this cuaracter would be goveroed more by the dictum of the professors thin by any arbitrary rule that exists, 1b18 rather a dangerous experiment for @ brililant cadet to think slightly of bis discipline marks. The members of tie gradnating class, thanks to & livecal order of General Kuger, bave eujoyed a splendid afternoon of it to-day. They were allowed | to go and come when they pleased from and to the hotel, and the result was girs hegira of all the ladies from Cozzens’ and all the neighboring hotels; even the Garrison’s side of the river adding Mts qnota to swell the gay throng at the West Point Hotel to make the graduates feel that they were, if not officers, at least as good ag officers should be in four or five days irom now. ‘The private Vurnouts from Cozzens’ were out in full force, and Idoubt very muca i a more brillant “rest day’? alternoon at tae Academy will occur for some tine to come—certainly not during the encamp- To-morrow evening one of the most attractive exercises of the whole examination week ls to lake ploce, that of the siege and mortar batteries nischt. This is to be followed by fireworks. It is excected that ail the undergraduate | 3 Will ve examined by the end of tue week, wach Will keep the professors and instructors busy even af.er the graduates leave, As I have already stated in a previous letter, the diplomas will be awarded on Wednesday and the alumni dinner will take place on Thursday. General Joe Johnston and others have written letters expressing their regrets at not belog able toattend, Ido not think way “rebel” will putin an appearance on (he occasion, with the possivie exceplion of General Longstreet, CREEDMOOR,. ELEVENTH COMPETITION FOR THE TORY, FIELD AND FARM BADGE ~A LARGE MEETING AND GOOD BHOOTING. Since the departure of the American ride team atfairs have been rather quiet at Creedmoor, Yesterday there was again a grand rally on the ground of the National Rifle Association, it being the occasion of the eleventh competition for the Turf, Feldand Farm gold badge. This contest took place at half-past three o’clock P. M. The | weather was fine, the atmospnere clear and the wind favorabie to good shooting. There were fAfty-elght entries for the match, In last year’s competitions for this badge three money prizes were given in addition to the badge, namely—$5 to the winner of it, $3 to the second aud $2 to the third best shots, For some reasons not clearly understood these prizes were with- held yesterday and the badge alone wa$ the only the short range butts, Mr. Collins, who won the badge, has carried it off for the third time, aud so Tetains possessiog of it. ‘There was a good deal of interest in yesterday's contest from the fact that Captain O'Kelly, who held tue badge over auring the winter, had won it twice in succession, and Moss's. Madison a) Collins each twice, though neither of them car. ried it of in consecutive competitions, and it was well understood that the match, the result of | whicn is given below, was to decide tue ulumate | ownership of the badge. ‘The conditions of the contest were :—Distance, 200 yaras; five rounds; rife, any within the rules of the National Rifle Association; hair trig- | gers and telescopic sigits not allowed; position, | standing; open to alt members of the National tide Association ; entrance fee, tify cents, j THE SCORES, } Namet, J. ¢. B, Collin Lieutenant A. H.H. MEdQY ccevee ssa Colonel B. &. Valentine George Crouch. . Dr. i. H, Colonel ©. A. J, Beatie Captan W. J. W. Stewart D. 7! Kennedy... Hi. B. Dominick ©, Ab Millen.” . W. Hotele Ceenetee ps tee te RRR CR MUUE ERENCE ROMMmatEme Peerpensrsererreree ere eeeres ere Sere e te eer Pea SR EE ROAR RR RUE RAR REECE RUM RER RROD ¥. B. serymser rhe remaining fifteen competitors dwindied | from a score of thirteex to next to potaing. The was fiuished shortly aiter four o'clock, and many of the participants retarned tu New York by the early train, but some of the old pool practice | range, The abseace of the visibly felt by tueir bomerous iriends Who Wore wont to welcome their well knowa iaces at Creedmoor. ‘THE IRISH-AMBKICAN RIPLE CLUB. This club had their second contest sesterday | afternoon at Creedmoor for their chalienge cup, which at the end of the season is to become the | property of the member who wins it the greatest nomober of times, Colonel Burton has cairied off | the honors twice in succession, The matcn w: at two ranges, 200 and 600 yard euch; rife, any within the rule mg at 200, and any without an artificial | 600 yards, 1HB SCORES. Yarda, B. Burton General F. F. Millen... Captain J. J, O'Kelly... J. J. Collins. B. Collins E. Brown, THE SOOTO-IRISH-AMBRICAN MATCH. A meeting of the Executive Committee of the Irish-American Rifle Club was held y which it was resolved to accept the ¢ the Scottish-American Rifle Club, with the ander- Standing that the teams are to be itmited to six last Friday of this month. Mr. Browne, the Secre- tary of the Irish-American Rife Club, has written In this sense to the Scottisn-American Rifle Cinb, VE TWELPTH REGIMENT AND THB AMERICAN ‘TEAM, At & special meeting of Company P, Twelfth regiment, N.@.5.N.Y., helt in toeir armory Jane 1l, a set of resolutions were adopted expressing the wishes of this company that the regiment should turn out im full dress on the occasion of the Amertcan team’s return from Lreland, to weicome them back, and form their escort on that day. The do @ great deal 0! gooa, But I venture to say that | every pleb Who is to come here next week, aud who may read these lines, will cry out in anguisa of soul, “1 want nene of it.” MAKING OUT THR STANDINGS. Saturday erally considered # holiday by 1 is tm faci y of rest from ail the examination , by which al their course of study, it for the undergraduate impossibie. as of old, to enjoy a congd while the fi jass is being examined. Still, un Like other no Ct drill or exercise in the afternoon, and t boys are therefore allowed a w to enjoy themeeiv ven para tne lot of tm t under tae ° fire of the examiners to-day, the subject they ‘Spanisn language, It was eonducted In gi part by Professor Who is the instructor of tais spectal branch of the studies of tne class. Tho examin: ton showed that the boys bad not failed to profit had been taugit during the a6 With Which they comju- Was remarkable when it P' bors on the Texas line a Knowledge of the jan+ guage Would be of immense benefit. But to make it of sohd Value one would think that it ought to be a partoi the study of the first class, the mem- bers of which @ @ Matier of course, the nearest to the line that divices the gray from the viue, and Who, In case of emergeacy, Where the language might be of service, would be the first to ‘The coming week is to be A vory busy one. ThG Academic Board, bésides working vo Or BIX bours every day at the examinations, are now busily engaged making out the siandings of the first class, @ task that would cry tue patience of the most patient mathematician in tne world. When the merest fraction mirht decide not oniy the class standing of a cadet but his standing in the army, £0 lar as some special branch of the ser. vice 1s concerned, the delicacy of the work of the that County Physician Dodd bas directed Coroner | instructors can be readiiy imagined. Ly Making Ont the atanaings the resnit of the | to apoear in the Hentenmial Exnibitien. Heporne to hold an meanest | he | me branch or other of | | ‘Twelfth are pusy preparing (or tacir grand picnic, which is to come off on the 20th inst. at Lyon Pars. “HE HUDSOS U SCHOOL TEACHERS ON A FROLIC. In response to an invitation of Messrs. Jarrett & Palmer a large number of the female teachers in the grammar schools of this city availed them- A BEVY OF FEMAL Hudson yesterday asternoon on board the steamer Piymouth Rock, The séte was Intended as a com- | pliment to the zeal and energy which invariably of the iadies attached to the mark tne lavo) several iastivati Teation are jew , wid whose chances of ree d far between, with ex cellent music, botu vocal aud instrumental, and the prevision of ail the elements that could tend to make the occasion pleasant, the adair was aitogetuer one to be remewdered by the joyous throug of fair participants. The Fiymeats ck Was handsomely decorated with all sorts of attractive ounting, andwie(t ker pier at the foot of Murray stréet at hall-past one o'clock, bound for Iona Isiand, a8 charming @ rustic spot | on the nople river as the eye could rest on. At Iona Island a complete re; ladies disembarked, and thus relieved from the harassing featares of school life monotony, gam- boiled on the greea sward like juveniles out fora holiday, Some of @ more sentimental turn strolled through the shady groves with which the lovely spot abounds, while otiers, frolicsome tor tne swing iuspires MEMORIAL OF WASI A number of Iadtes of this city and its vicinity, grtoved vy the fact that there is no memorial of Washington Irving in the Ceatrat Park, have de- termined to organize an association whose pur- pose shall be to procure the erection Of some pre- sentment of the Kindly face of the modest creator ioe of young HINGION IRVING. of Rip Van Wiokle and Diedrich Knickerbocker. They will meet on Monday at the residence of Mra mr PF. Wait, No. 18 Bast Porty-sixth street, te perfect their organization; amd they nope to have | their memorial of Irving complete such @ pos-ibliliy as a tie on | thing that rewarded the best skill displayed at | | shouid tail on the real estate owners, | fa Mon exch, and the match to take place ou the | selves of a refreshing and delightful trip up tne | o, indulged im the dights of Jaucy thata | in time for it 5 CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA A Presidential Military Surprise Against State Electoral Rights. ssive Peace with Progressive solve in the Interior Re- Chilian Finance and Eleetrie Communica- tien with Europe. PANAMA, Jane 4, 1875, The political situation of the Isthmus has pot improved. People don’t know whether it i to be war or peace. INFLUENCING CAUSES, This state of trouble and uncertainty has been breugntabout in the following way :— President Perez, of Bogota, seeing che State of Panama was Dot likely to vote as he wanted it in the election for President of the Republic, took the plan of throwing @ military obstacle in the way. As there isin Panama @ nattonal force which had been seduced from its allegiance Genera! Cam- argo was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic States, and the other day made his ap- pearance in Panama to communicate nis orders to the national force stationed hwre. The State government, suspecting that his | errand was to overthrow present authorities and 80 secure the vote of tue State lor Seior Parra, the government candidate at Bogota, a rested the Generai before he was lormaily recog. nized by the troops, ‘fals—which was certainly & bold step and tantamount to @ rebellion against the orders of the federal government—at icast has secured peace in the Meantime, and if the storm can be warded off until (he elections of the State are declared, all way go well. Presideat Miro reported to the Executive at Bogota what he had | done, WHAT MAY FOLLOW. Whether the government there will resent this bold measure remains to be seen, and hence the state Or uncertainty and doubt that bangs over men’s minds. If President Perez persisis in dra- gooning this ¢ he would bave to send suff- clent force through the other covst States that are inimical to bis favorite candidate, and a geu- eral war in the Republic may be the result. The government organs here quote the nine- teenth article o! the constitution, which say: “rhe government of the Uaited States (of Cul | bia) can neither declare nor make war against | the States without the express authority of Con- | gress, and only after baviug tried all concillatory Measures.” | As for President Miro, he 1s said to have only | done his duty ander tne circumstances, and ts r | sponsible only to the Supreme Court of the nation, A HIGH-HANDED RESOURCE TREASURY. ‘rhe government of the State bas no money in the treasury and must have tt. It has resorted to the old conveniemy method of iniorming the mer- chants that 1t is necessary to double the amount of taxes they pay aud give tiem a certain number of days to pay up. The sesurtiies offered for the mo asked for are not satisiactory to the mer- chant, They presented a petiion to Nave the de- cree modified in @ way that part of the burden rhe gov- ernment refused to take that view of it and in- Bisis On the decree being fulfilled. Business 18 so duli (nat merchants find 1 @ifM- cult to pay expenses. CENTRAL a BY AN INSOLVENT CA. PaNaMA, June 4, 187 ‘The newe ‘rom Central America continues to be of @ peaceful and progressive nature, inspiring great hopes tuat revolutionary tendencies among tne people are becoming weakened and that peace | will be less easily disturbed than bereto‘ore by the ambitious and uuprincipled prociaimers of liberty and Loeralism., in Guatemala particularly it is considered that the reign of the old theocratic aud otigarenic parties Bas passed away. The same night be said of Sa'vador, where the people have just been called to elect a new Prem- dent mM next December, NICARAGUA. The quarreis with Costa Rica are being »mootned over. The two Republics promise to wo. 4 ov side by side in peace and auison, ! SOUTH AMERICA. PaNxama, Jure 4, 1875. Matters are looking up In I’eru since the bills rejating to the sale of guano and aoitrste bave become iaw. ‘The Presidential straggle still goes on between the partisans of Montero and Prado. The latter are most likely to be successful, TELEGRAPH CABLE COMMUNICATION WIT BUROPR. Tne cable to connect Chorrillos, the watering place of Lima, with Caldera, im Chili, Das had @ commeneement. Messages after its compietion can be transmitted from Pera to Vaiparaiso and A ING CASH. The saltpetre manulactories and lands are to be soid and £3,000,000 sterilog, arising from vnis source, to be dedicated to compleve the ratiways. | Mr. Meiggs explained thet unless Conaress dia | something im the way of a new grant tne works wouid have to be suspended, and would, 0: course, 1 imro ruin. Ywo million tons of guand are to be put up for sai¢ in Europe. A DISTRESSING ACCIDENT. COACRMAN AND HIS DAUGHTER SEVERELY BUBNED— EXPECTED DEATA OF BOTH. POUGHKEErSIg, June 12, 1) A heartrending accident occurred to-day at the summer residence of Mr. Jobn F, Winslow, on the Hyde Park road. Michael Marsh, Mr. Winslow's A © | coachman, was at bis house this morning, shortly | before ten o'clock, preparing some harness aud | biacking it for use. It was some of 3 own make, and he bad been xg it | for @ Gay or two and was about to ure it to-day. Believing, however, that it was too thick, he | mixed some turpentine with it and held it over the stove to warm, when, suddenly, the turpen- | tine ignited and in a second tue barning liquid had spattered over bis clothing. His litte | daughter Maggie, aged twelve years, was in the | room at the time, and harrying to her father, } ed tue vessel which contained the liquid and started with it to the door, ner clothing also taking fire. The sbricks of both as they | ran ont into the yard were heartrending | and alarmed the entire neighvoracod. Mr. Jobo | F. Winslow was tne first to reac the spot, and, | seeing bis coacoman on fire, hurried ap, and calied | ous to him to throw nimsei/ om the grass aud roll | the fire oat, at the same time aiding Him ail he | coma, The coachinan dit as directed, and in | moment the fire was extinguished, not, howeve till It fad burned over @ considerable space examined at one 3. Marsh Waa ona “found to be horribly burned from the lower part of his body vo his feet, and his face and hands were also terribly burned. In the | meantime Mr. Robinson, whose property ts ad- | jorning, having arrived, was looking after | jittle girl, aided by the neigabors, She was sound | near the louse on che grass, with nearly every h of clo\hing burned om her. amd her listtie ody wvurned also (to & crisp. She was . and suffering the greatest | agony. the victims Ww tak | into the coachman’s house and | aid sommoned. Dr. Carter and Dr. Sut arrived, and as quickly possivle the it was put ander the influence of ether, so as to make her lasensibie to pain. and them tue usaat | remedies were lied; bas the gee ted | that it was impossible jor ner to live, and thatthe chances Were giso against the coachman sur- viving, Mrs. Marsh, the wife of the coach | man, in endeavoring to save her child, | was very much burned on both arms. Mr. Robinson also received severe buras on tue hands, | as cid also Mr. Winslow. The latter arrived as the coach house in time to save it rom de- iis | struction Michael He has been with Mr. Winsiow for fourteen years. | Be has four children youuger than Maggie. He was born in Germany, and nas managed to accu. muiate quite a litte amount of property. THE WEATHER YESTERDAY. The following record will show the changes in the temperature tor the past twenty-four hours, in comparison With the corresponding date of last | year, as indicated by the thermometer at Hudauvs Pharmacy, HERALD Building i 1874, 1815, 1874 1975. 3A. M . n ire. rst has a wife and eignt children, st year... 4 eva llvedes Average temperature for the past w Average temperature for corresponain sast Your. oe