Bloomington herald. [volume] (Bloomington, I. T. [Iowa]) 1840-1849, 1846-01-17
THE NIGHT "OLD ARMSTEADv
BROUGHT THE NEWS.

BROUGHT THE NEWS.
LowSDEsBoRo,, Ala, Nov. IS, ls45.
As the Presidential contest Of IA wa
drawing to its close, and the returns from
respective States began 10 come in, III
excitement which had been growing will
'ne growth of the campaign, and strength
ening with its strength, could now n,
longer be restrained, but showed itself a.
wen IN The eager countenances, as in III,
bitter words and hasty actions of men,
Business in this par. Of the country wa
almost entirely lost sight Of; men notes
Tor sneir devotion to their pursuits and in,
serests. might have been seen at any hou
OF the day. idly lettering about, discussing
the probable issue with as much yehe.
mence as though their whole fortune.
depended upon il. Thousands upon
thousands of dollars were staked upon the
result; and when i. became known tina,
the vote Of New York was 10 decide the
conflict. the eyes of the whole people
were turned upon her with feelings of The
deepest solicitude.
On the arrival Of the day upon which
the final news was to reach Montgomery
having a large amount Of money bet upon
the election, and feeling very anxious in
regard to it. | determined to send an ex-
press for the intelligence. Accordingly,
wiring to friend TO send my messenger
back as soon as the mail arrived, which
| knew would be about eleven O'Clock a,
night, I started Old Armstead'- faith
full old negro Of mine-a great favori,e in
the village, a 'Pisin' Democra.'-wi.h
particular and pressing instructions TO
keep perfectly sober, star. home as soon
as he got the news, not 10 ride Traveller
hard, and to be certain to be back before
day. Immediately after he left it became
known in town tina. had sent odd Arm.
stead to Montgomery after the news, and
TO give every one of all parties the benefi,
of the express. 1agreed, upon his arrival
al home that night, 10 fire one barrel of
my gun in the event that Mr.. Clay was
elected, and if Mr.. Polk was the chosen
one | was to fire both.
Atmy usual time | went to bed--but
not to sleep. The dread uncertainty of
the intelligence was so soon TO receive.
added to a nervous fear as 10 the safely Of
my investments 50 lavishly made upon
MIR. Polk. banished rest from my pillow.
However, about three o'clock in the morn.
ing | had fallen into an uneasy slumber,
and was dreaming Of counting money and
seeing new clothes, when I was suddenly
aroused by the Gathering Of a horses
hoofs against the hard ground, At leas, a
quarter Of a mile off. l raised up in the
bed. and in a moment recognized the
strong, powerful lope Of my Traveller
Springing to the floor. with my feelings
in a .umult Of anxiety,I lit candle and
jumped to the door, when odd Armstead'
seeing me, and having about half gallon
on his mind, shouted out, Master, Mr..
Polk 8 elected, by ~ Not taking
time 10 reprimanG old Arms!ead' for
qualifying his news with so strong an ex.
preston, sprang TO my gun, which was
sitting ready cooked for the occasion, let
go one barrel and had my finger GU the
other trigger, when the idea struck me to
hold on minute and see the effect pro-
duced by the one barrel. Before the re.
verbera.iop had died away, out jumped
Bill Thompson, the most violent, bitter
wing in the village, from the door of his
house. regardless of the bitter cold night,
with nothing on but his shir. (for he had
just arisen from his bed on the report of
the gun) and, as he hit the ground he
yelled. rather than halloed, 'Hurrah for
Clay | am made man, by -!
Hurrah for Clay!
In minute more there came tearing up
the street 10 Thompson's house, half a
dozen half naked wings, yelling. like so
many unclaimed devils, .Hurrah for Clay
and Frelinghuysen! could stand i, no
longer, and with feelings Of the most un-
alleged rapture, pulled down the hammer
on the second barrel. If thunderbolt
from Heaven had fallen amongst them,
j, could not have produced more constern-
alton. Bill Thompson fell flat on his face
and groaned, I'm ruined by -!
Broke! Smashed all 10 D.!
BY this time the streets were filled by
the shouts of the triumphant Democrats
and the cnrses Of the disappointed Wigs.
l ran back to put on my pantaloons. and
on my re,urnl 10 the crowd found odd
Armstead' on the ground with a dozen
men around him laughing; on approach
ing the spot, heard him yell out, Yah !!
yah yah! Dress God. dis night will De
de def Of me. yet and then he would roll
over in another paroxysm Of laughter and
press his hands to- his side. Yah yah
yah! l hsb seen heap of lings in Old Vir-
pinny, but never seed nothing 10 beat
dat = On some one enquiriug Of him
what was the matter. he replied, 4 amlaf-
fin at the way Master fooled Mr.. rhomp