The Columbian fountain., 1846-02-21
WASHINGTON
ANY THING YoU PLEASE, SIR, HERE: OR,
THE PERRYOPOLIS DRUNKARD.

l-nOnOTed be his title. useful Ills ONCE, ana
rich its reward lived in log house, ina
very romantic spot, overhung by high
hill, and right on the bank Of that same
Youghioghtny.-o which it may be proper
to say farther, that it is a clear, swift, shall
low, winding tributary Of the Monongahe-
il la, falling into il at M M'Keesport, some three
or four miles above Braddock's Field, and
about fifteen above Pittsburg Verify, it was
a pleasant place to us; and we venture the
assertion that we remember it with more
fondness than does the old Squire himself.
Poetry lay there, like sunshine, on stream,
shore, and wood; and projected the shadow
of the hill over the homestead, as if to sof-
ten its beauty and shelter it from the heat.
There, too, she had hermitage; up the ra-
vine; between the hills; under the mighty
oaks; where the breeze, with cool ealou-
sy, shook the dark green foliage all day, as
if to toss the golden light from the leaves
as fast as it fell, and cover it up by the
Pickering shade on the moist sward below;
and where the spring, slipping out from un-
der the rock in the corner, heard the leap
and the shout Of the waterfall away up
among the slale-ledges, and sprung laugh
ing into the channel aud hurried down to
the river before it. But we had better stop
this at once; or our course will resemble
that of the aforesaid spring, from the ravine
into the Youghicgheny, from that into the
Monongahela, from that into the Ohio, from
that into the Mississippi, from that into the
Gulf stream, and from that, nobody knows
where, unless it be everywhere We can
not even tell about sLovely," the mission
ary pony; nor about the reverent looking
dog, that always sat up straight, and took
part in the singing at family worship; nor of
the fish giggiog, in the dark nights, in the
black waters, by the red men, in the glis-
trning canoes, In the glare of the uplifted
pine torches, with the sparks ever shower
Ing downward, and others as bright rising
to meet them. We cannot tell many things
we would like to tell; but our proposed s:o-
ry must not be forgotten.
Among the unsophsticated rustics who
occasionally came down upon the bank,
there was one-whal's that was his name
vast it Davy ?-Davy ?-something
yer mind, tits no matter-one queer fellow,
tall, stout, rugged, careless, fond Of talk,
and full of fun. In dry weather, he wore
good, sound shoes--for then, as be thought,
there was some sense in wearing such; but
in wet, rainy, muddy weather, he put on
old ones, with holes in them, so that, ac-
cording to his philosophy, the water that
got in them might have chance 10 get out
again. Well, Davy it was, standing by the
door steps, told US the story. We can only
report the substance of it, as it still fingers
in our memory.
There came to Perryopols, about seven
miles from here, to live and work at his
,rade-we really forget what Davy said
his name was, and whether he was tailor
or shoemaker, but we will suppose him
to have been-a certain jim -, tailor.
Jim was an invelerate drunkard. For a
considerable part of the time, he was a
curse to himself, his family, and friends.
No means that were tried seemed adequate
to his rescue. He may have been once
very afectionate, industrious, and provi-
dent. In his intervals Of freedom from the
demon, he may have been SO still. But
those intervals were becoming fewer and
briefer, and he was looked upon as well
nigh ruined One day, in the half-stupor
and half-delirium of drinking frolic, he
tottered in the neighborhood of Glass
House, an establishment with the mysteries
of which he had yet formed no acquaint-
ance. Coming nearer, all unconscious of
his course, he reeled through the door, fell
down in gloomy corner, and there lay
dead drunk. 1t was not long before he
was noticed his condition truly appreci-
ated and rude but benevolent plan form
ed to save him, if possible, from his degra-
dation. Night came on; the glass was in
working order; and the blowers, with
their assistants, renewed their task The
openings in the furnace revealed the awful
brightness of white heat; the difused
glare reddened the ample obscure around
it.; the swarhy workmen moved hither
and thiher, in and out of the shafts of ra-
dance; the molten glass glowed on the
ends of the long iron rods-rolled into
even thickness on the smooth plates
swung round and round through gloom and
fash-and swelled and glistened at one end
of every rod, as 6 wild hame-lit face swell
ed and glistened at the other. In the
midst Of these quiet but wonderful opera
tons, Jim recovered his consciousness.
Still, neither sense nor mind was clear
/ E,,1, Lo baJ Of oitbpr ,uoplI