Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1835-10-29

West on a stump, as 10 the east in a court
House. or in old Faneuil Itself The i'm.
preston of oddly svon wears of: and /
am Inclined TO believe that the Western
manner OF electioneefing 10 TO The full as
proper, and olore honest and op~enhanded
than the silsnt canvassing in The East.
Martin Is q lawyer, who had quit brick
laying for brief making and special Mead.
ing. He is a man Of strong natural good
sense, and a sarcastic and s~atirical hnmoe
which tells well in a candidate His sneech
was about half an hour long, and he as
succeeded by Judge Bates. a mar OF
great talent, a polished writer, full Of
classic lore. but no speaker. When he
was on the Bench in Arkansas. a LAWYER
also formerly a Judge, and of whom /
may hereafter speak-named Hall, was IN
the habit Of inieTlardi,g he speeches az
the bar With frequent Latin quotations -
In one cause, particularly, he WAS so very
profdse of bis learning, 30 much so. that
when Bates delivered the opinion OF the
Court, he did it of hand in La.ia. Ilall
listened, but only Knowing a few quota.
lions learned from law books. he was com.
PEELED, TO the great amusement, ofihe Bar
and the spectators, TO require OF the Judge
TO translate his opinion into English.
Bates was succeeded BY three oiker
candidates, two of whom were farmers and
the thud a lawyer-the latter by Ear the
tceakest of all. | had expected a display
OF bombast aud noise. and WAS gr, atly
surprised by good strong sense, keen ga.
lire, and almost an entire freedom Gotn
violence and aiieetation in all the speeches.
was still hetterFlesssd when | afterwards
saw Cfittenden and sevier-tIie rival can.
fldaies Tor Congress meet on the stuinp.
Robert CritteBden is since dead He was
a brother Of John ). Criiteaden, Senator
from Kentucky, aud is universally allow.
ed to have been a more talented man than
] either Of bis brothers. / have listened 10
him frequently, since then, and | esteem
iim one OF tie most eloquent men | ever
heard. Ills voice was full and rich. his
Language coplois, strong, end yet brilliant
and he excited equally in paIhos aud
irony.
! Am extending this letter TO an unwar.
rantab!e length, and with ore tale Of peri.
lous adventure, by Aood, il not By Ere, |
shall close.
In the month OF January. 1888, there
wa an inunda,ion OF the Arksrsaa. was
living at that time opposite Fort Smith,
ana, IN company with my host, got into a
piFog1e, when the rise was at the hiehest,
aud took a trip. like fools, seven mile.
down the river. TO the town of Van Buren,
aforesaid. After reaching that place. we
began TO concider- what we had not
thought Of hefore-how wo were TO get
back (; and the result Of our Joint eoeita-
tons was that. az it was impossible 20 get
back ~ the plrogne, We must return on
foot. The first four miles were easily &C
complished, as 1t was over the upland /;
but at the end Of that distance, we arrived
at tho edge of the bottom. through which
we had about three miles to 90. Ii wap
ovefllowed IN some places TO the depth Of
tea feet. We looked down upon the cane
for it was full of that ~article-and held
another consultation. On we pushed. how
ever, and commenced foundering through
the water, among The cane. II was gen.
orally about deep enough 10 immer.e us
to our necks and when the reader reulem
bers that it uss in January, he will doubt.
lees be aware that IT was DOT very pleasant
we had proceeded but a little way, when
my companion lost his reckoning, and I've
came lost. lie turned from home, and
commenced wandering about in every di.
%rectloD, until | took The lead. ns tho Oldest
woodsmau. After proceeding about. a
mile and a ball, with great caution, we
came at length to the bank Of a little eul.
ly, about fifteen feet wide, as we learned
by the break in the cane. Here we halt.
ed, and considered how we should cross.
! cannot swim an inch, aud nothing was
left but to hunt for logs.
We proceeded down the creek until we
had found & small one, when | held one
end until he straddled it, and eo0ned il
over and he did me the same service AT
the other end, We kept on. The ground
became more elevated and Jnst as we got
out of the water, we found ourselves on
the bank Of what is called GarIison's creek
"a stream about sixty feet wide. At low
wafer, the banks are twenty-five feet above
water =; now the water vas level with them
We attempted TO build a raft. but could
only find one log, about twenty feet long.
and two others about eight. We stripped
some hickory bark and tied them toseth-
or, and straddled the further end Of them
bot were 10 sooner on than the long
one toppled over, the short oaes went IN
der, and SO did !, clothes and all so we
gave up that idea. then took one Of the
short logs. put one end Under my breast,
and Tried 10 cross iE that way. Ii wouldn't
do. Over and over went the log. and I
got another bounteous ducking. BY this
time il was getting dark. and the air was
growing keen and Geld. Just then We
beard an axe across The creek, and com.
menced hallooing, which soon brought a
man down, spIashing through the water,
to the bank OF the creek. | advised my
companion 10 so over aud hire the man 10
fell a tree. on which ! conld cross, and
therefore he took TO the water, with his
breast on one end of The long log. He
kicked away manfally, and when the end