The Massachusetts spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1831-1858, 1832-12-12
THE PRIZE BUYER

When hoY, fanny Wnicf Will he HlStln
guisheG by the name Of Stillman, consist
i ing of father, mother, and an only son
J Old StIiman was farmer, and as the phras
: went, "ipeH 10 do in the iOOrid." Isaac, hi
: son, was, by the district schoolmoster, char
acterized as boy Of excellent paris; 6n
of propensitics so untutoreG and luxuriantl'
Wild so rs 10 render his sutcess, rs schol
ar, entirely predetermined. The result prov
! ed the correctness of the teachers est
: mate. Isaac grew up into tall. registering
! farmers boy, nearly destitute of the veries
rudimenis of . common education, but will
! come tact, and much taste TO- bargaining ant
J speculation. To the deligh, hut much of
: tener to the chagrn of the farmer, Isaac
! who had the control of sone four head O.
cattle and a horse, made sometimes good
J often times bad hit, in trailing stock with
the neighaoring youngsters This traffic
ing, however, was on much t,o small n scale
There was too little lett 10 hack, (tha wnrt
luck was magical to young Stlllman's ear,
to suit the daring spirit of a reckless specu.
lator.
About this time it was that one of The
very lucky schemes Of the New York Lit
erature Lottery, found its way to tbe store
hard by the residence Of Mr.. Stlman.-
Young Stillman obtained possession of il,
and as his eye ran over the list Of splendid
prizes for sale, his ambition WIS fired to
take his chance with other happI adventur-
ers, $50 he deemed them,) for tie highest.
He bought ticket and drew its value, mi
nus fifteen per cent. Z; and of curse added
the fifteen per cent. lost, and trtd his luck
the second time, all gamblers, pung OF old
would have done the same. Again he drew
his money, less the fifteen pr cent. and
added the loss and re-invested. He pursu-
ed this course, unknown to hisfather, until
he had spent the cash receipts of two fine
three years old steers, which h had sold 10
pretty good advantage. An ndrawn lot
terry ticket was all he had lift, when the
old gentleman found, on asking the loan of
a few dollars from his son, thu his money
was all gone, and how.
The anger and sorrow of he practical
hard working father may be beaer imagin-
ed than described. He withdrw from his
son the ccccsa,tol of all the properly he had
given him. at once, and lorLi1 ~ ~ "s"hiinp
in lotteries for ever after on painof his Sc
verest displeasure. But two day after this,
news came that Isaac's ticket hal absolute
ly drawn prize Of $4,000.
The incident wrought forthwith, an entire
revolution in the affairs, and as an almost
necessary consequence, in the views of the
elder Stilman, on the subject OF lotteries
Both he and his son bought-not single
tickets, but whole packages in the curren
schemes. The whole neighborhood, in fact
excited by the brilliant success of tn,
younger Stillman, invested sums in the pur
chase of tickets, which they could i'll affor.
to spare. The Stillman's bought and los
and lost and bought, till theiI prize proper.
ty, farm, and all--was gone. The gey
hairs Of the old gentleman and lady ven
down in poverty and sorrow to the grave
Young Stillman still lives, driving stage
for fourteen alollnrs ne- noeih, and buyi
rum and tickets with his wages. He is
miserable, lost man; and he locality where
he once lived, is probably oorer by $4,000
for his truly lucky ticket & $4,000 Three
, fine farms there are nov burthened with
heavy and hopeless mortgages, which bu
!, for Isaac Stillman's prize would at this day
have been unincumbered The moral O
this unvarnished sketch isleft for the read
er to draw Young .Men's.Adroeate.
GROWTH OF LOWELL. person, says tn
Lowell Mass Journal whohas taken pains t,
ascertain the number of ne, buildings erected
in this place the past year, nd now erecting
including dwelling houses, stres and shops, in
forms us that they amount tttlco hHRdred am
seuenty eight! We think notown IN the Union
can boas, Of such an unexauDled growth. Not
wlthstandiDg so many tenments have beer
erected, the demand for thm continues midi
minlshed, and the price OF rent exceedingl,
high. Nothing can arrest lis tide Of prospect
, tv for many years to come hi uncertainty O
/ disappointment respecting Re Tariff A com
pany already Incorporated witch has purchased
Its privileges, has thoug mt it rudent TO suspend
its operations IN building unit something NOR
) definite IN the national protective policy shal
manifest itself. Upon the deision of the TART
question depends every thig relating to thi
! town, Upon it depends whdher the immense
water privileges now unocuJied shall be .akel
. up, and give employment ard wealth 10 thou
sands, or whether the, factoris now in operation
1 shall curtail their business and reduce TN
price OF wages so as to be abb to compete witt
!, the poor half starved operatives of Eng
Should the faith of the na,ioi which has beef
I pledged to manufacturing interests, be main
;. tanned, Lowell, which is nowhe greatest man
Q ufacturlng town in the UnitPl States, will, IN
few years be second to none il the world but
g on the contrary, should this hedge be violated
. there can be no calculating is ruinous eftec
e upon our devoted town.
INDIAN FAITH. The Richmond Com
. piler relates the following interesting Incl
: dent. strikingly illustrative Of thai exalted
|, trait IN The Indian character which hold
with mistaken firmness to the observance
Of plighted faith, be the circumstance
what they may under which the pledg'
( was given:
r When Gen. Scott in his late campaigI
: arrived at the American encampment II
the North West, he found three Indian
!, prisoners-under charge of murderin,
the whites. The evidence against then
was slght-and an application had bee
sent to Washington to obtain their dis
charge. But the President had gone I
the Hermitage, and the Secretary of Wa
to Detroit. No answer, OF course, was oh
tanned. In the mean time the Choler
broke out among the American Troops i
the Camp on Rock River. Many hecam
victims. One of the three Indian prisoner
: also took it and died.
The General seeing the danger the
were exposed 10, determined on letting tn
two survivors out of con6nement-and tol
them if they would confne themselves t
the Island in the river, he would perm,
them to 90 there. Their word being pleda
ed, he directed them to go TO the extrem
part of the island, where they might kee
:, somewhat out of the way of our troop
!, They accordingly repaired to the quartz
i where he had directed them to go; but the
: never once left the island--although the
: might easily have made their escape. Near
time the Cholera spread, and the DANCE
: Al Lit. ~