Hannibal journal and western union. (Hannibal, Mo.) 1851-1852, 1851-10-16

A Glimpse OF the Elephant.
wuTTlE Fon THE JOURNAL ND UNION.
ny oNL OF THE INITIATED.

Containing "a cxorIiui worthy OF the subject And al
80 COutauIGs an Sccount OF a certain bredkias aud
how II was prepared q :.
h Tnr glorious orb of day arose brightly OH the
oInlng when first tbegln the scanly memorials
Wifit..i are ycl PRESERVED TO the world, of the
never to be- forgotten hero whose iustrious
achievements il is 10Y enviable fortune to chroni-
Gle. am one " those dull, plodding historic
ans, who, detesGng ali establishment save TRUTH
are content with narratlng facts as they have oc-
cured and spurn all the airy ornaments of fic-
tion, remitting no toll to arrive at the verify of
the most trivial incident they relate. And when
Il first undertook the labof--the Herculian trav-
all FOR gigantic it is TO me, although veracious,
and exc voluminous historians are, in this age
Of brass, as plentiful as owls are at Athens, or
gold is not in FL Dorado;)1 firmly resolved TO
refuse no toll TO collect and collatc such materi-
ais as best might, in order TO compose an aII-
thentlc memoir of the wonderful adventures and
not .Dlc performances Of the admirable Reuben
lAppleIlce. Nevertheless, although in further
ance OF my Spartan resove,-I have diligently
Iperusel huge pile of original documents, APP
paren,ly transnltteI to future generations in
Hebraic OF Sanscrit characters, and consisting
o. letters, journals, &c, Sc, all in the unique
and elegant handwriting Of my hero, | have ut
.terly failed i'll my attempts to discover the pre-
else date whereupNn the aforesaid luminary
thus smiled so brilliantly and beheld so COM
placently the rising star of the fortunes Of our
friend and gossip, Mr.. Applelace. This much,
however, | have ascertained, that II was in the
merry month OF May and middle portion there
OIL in the year of our Lord lS49, and that The part
olaths evil terrestrial sphere al that time hon
orel by the. presence OF our hero, was the beau
tiiui and fourishing town Of Independence.
Thc mania Tor crossing The vast western pra-
res and rugge chains OF sterile mountain peaks
which Sc para q the Interior Western States from
t!ic 2;:-lL.--:.s valleys ot lie S~o.a -IG;o ANA
cS.u Joaquin and tor undergoing hardS'nps and
enduring pcrils ol every species. mercy 10 attain
Il sight OF tha, remarkable hLSuS HatUrleao Of the
animal Kingdom, ,he elephant, as many have pro
ven o their own excessive dolor, then rage uud
ra.cJ supremey, becoming tantamolnt To eyrE
yiayr consideration, and leading It's vic Ans q
dance To winch the H1cromaniic gaInbo.s LIe arch
wizard Master Michael Sels inflicted upon h,s
cu.mies became, 10 use the eoPent language o
the worthy cavalier oL La Aiancha's no less wor-
lysc,quire, Uu, as ,aTts and cheesecakeS, in COM
parIson. 20 es
An unfortuni e,wi ght was stricken with the
California fever, ann -diately he was ''af and
ava" ;" and the ~ zee that had known MIN knew
him no more Never were pilgrims in the old
,on times OF cAN4t md superstition morc@ent
up,u bowling before the ALTAR near NJ 1riah han
the gold hunters Of forty-ninC in their idoo ry
to Plutus, bearing i their distorted Imagination a
marvellous resemblance to big chunk of that
metal which opens every door and overcomes
every difficulty; which certain chunk was sup
posed by each individual adventurer TO lie lii :
den oenealh some ol The towering SUBMITS OF
The Sierra Nevada, impaiiently awaiting the adj
vena OF his Fortunate self TO draw it from its
d rlI covert and expose it to the light Of day.
Thewhole nation was infatuated; every person
was scinaed and each one shared in the intoX-
icaton, drawing no, inconsldeTable satisfaction
from the cherished assurance OF lingering
gratIying proportion Of the ore.
Such being the universal passion, need it ere.
ate arnazement that the inducements OF Nam.
mon excited the strongest pusations in the boz
som Of our hero He concluded TO go, with
characteristic determination and he did, in the
: manner hereafter fully set forth and eXemplifeC
the following pages @.
Reuben was case, and, moreover, very
harl one; he was like the French Lady who de-
cared she was an abandoned woman and haC
lost her character, save that had never one
to lose, or rather, will say nd my powers
totally ina lequate to the task OF depicting the
lofty faculties Of his intellect, and ennobling at
tributes OF his soul g j shall therefore leave hi
,charac er to fare for itself, as evil weeds grow
'apacc, to meet unassisted, the tender mercies o
the world, ;hdt great tribunal without law o.
, Justice, before which we are all arraigned, AM
The DEGREES oil which, hoWsoever arbitrary thel
may',s are final and without appeal
L t,-return 70 those aforementioned sun
. beams Of a NJ . morning, which Illuminated th
town vi Independence, and truly they Wer
bright; they streaned through the open case
ments Of lhe village and depicted their quaill
devices upon The walls, gaddening the hearts o
E the inmates. They walked the little birds in III
b n.Ighb,rngr groves, and leli warm and ioyou
',upon tus crys al waters OF the rllis whic
tricllle in the woods around, Bu' they ii
more than all ,hls they danced Sporiycy upo
e ten pitched upon he outskirts o. thc towI
and / am much afraid they found lis occupant
asleep. can at least answer for one Of 'huin
that one was Reuben Appleface, and he wa
as sound as the most sleepy Of the seven cham
y plons of Christendom in the donjon keep
j. the each,nted castle. u IN front Of the teh,nu.
STOOD large ,wo-AJrse wagon, equipped .ni a.,
Icoutred in the mos approved style, and 10 j
wheels were pickete1 the ions-eoF.i gen,r,
whose felicitous destiny was TO turnish ii
:, mot gr influence 10 the triumNhl car OF App,
: tFlr. \ Co. Bnt acstjr and bushe Of the risu
d civ he roll OF the wheels OF the GENEROUSLY Ii
6ld \ Santa Fe wa gons, the lout long whlnn@.
ius OF mules, theGurStRg OF O.. migrants, an
lths vocal pecu ,4niE, - OF I'. crai erng Ne
I Mexieans, ma ing and plamslng iooge,he
composed q du,cet strain admirably eAculal'
}, 10 ar9uso old Morpheus himself from his sluT
i lbers, At least, il awakened his motern exer
= plar, Reuben, no less feat than the former
: This last named distinguished gentleman arc