The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1852-06-17
WHAT TO DO IN TIE MEAN TIME,

I philosopher Of our acquaintance, Whose
only fault is impracticabilty, that in lii'
D there is but one real difficulty this is sim
ply what to do in the mean time? Tho
Q thesis requires no demonstration. II come:
home to the experience Of every man whe
, hears it uttered. From tho chimney pot:
10 tho cellars Of society. great and small
scholars and clowns, all classes Of slrug
lging humanity are painfully alive to its
truth.
The men TO whom the question is pre-
ominenlly embarrassing are those who
have either pccuniary expectancies, or pos
sess talents Of somc particular kind, on
whose recognition by others their material
prosperity depends. II may be laid down
as general axiom in such cases, that the
wors, thing man can do is to ,rdit, and
the best thing he can do is to work; that is
to say, that in nine cases out often, doing
something has a great advantage over do
ing nothing. Such an assertion would ap-
quiring neither proof nor illustration, we're
il not grievously palpable to the student Of
the great book Of life-,he unwri,ten bio
graphical dictionary Of the world-tbat an
opposite system is too often preferred and
adopted by the unfortunate victims Of this
conditioner every body question: so clear
iy proposed, and in countless instances SC
ineficien,ly and indefinitely answered.
To multiply dismal examples of such sad
cases of people ruined, starved, and in a
variety Of ways fearfully embarrassed and
tormented during the process of expecta.
,on, by the policy Of cowardIy sloth or fee
BILE hesitation, might, indeed, "point NOR.
all" but would scarcely "adorn tale" Il
is doubtless an advantage to learn practical
truth. We shall therefore leave the dark
side Of the argument with full confidence
to the memories, experience, and imagina
tions of our readers, and dwell rather-as
both more salutary aud interesting con
sideration--on the brighter side, in cases
Of successful repartee to the grand query
which our limited personal observation has
enabled US TO collect. Besides, there j:
nothing attractive or exciting about intel
IeciuaI inertia. The contrast between nc
tive resistance and passive endurance Is
that between machine al rest and a ma.
chine in motion. Who that has visited the
Great Exhibition can have failed to re-
3 mark the difference Of interest aroused il
the two cases? What else causes the pre-
ambulating dealers in artificial spiders sus
pended from threads TO command SO grea
patronage from the juvenile population Q
Paris and London? What else CONSTITUTES
the superiority of an advertising-van oyel
; a stationary poster? What sells Alexandra
Dumas novels, and makes balolon ascen
such a fayori,e spectacle? "Work, man!
said the philosopher: "hast thou not all G
: ,ernty to rest in?' And TO ,rork, accord
ing TO Mills "Polilical Economy" is I,
moue; therefore perpetual motion is TIN
great ideal problem of mechanicians.
/ The first case ia our museum is that 0
a German officer. He was sent to th'
coast of Africa on an exploring expedition
through the agency Of the part pretre, O
!, Jesuit party in France, with whose machl
nations against Louis Phillippe's govern
ment he had become accidentally acquaint
ed. The Jesuits, finding him opposed Il
their plans, determined to remove him from
the scene of action. In consequence o
this determination, j, SO happened that the
captain Of the vessel in which he went out
set sail one fine morning, leaving our frene
on shore to the society and care Of the ma
tive negro population. His black acquaint
ance for some time treated him with mark
ed civli,y but as the return Of the ship be
came more and more problematical, fsmli
arity began TO breed its usual progeny
and the unhappy German found himsel
in most painful position. Hitherto h'
had been treated with actual disrespecl
but when King Bocca Bocca one day Gu
him in tho most unequivocal manner, ht
; found himself SO utterly neglected, and ih'
= sensation Of being nobody--a nobody
too, among niggers for the moment com
: pletey overcame him. A feeble ray o
hope was excited shortly aiterward in BIZ
) despondent heart, by hint gathered from
: the signs made by the negro in whose hut
he lived, that project was entertained ii
high quarters of giving him coat of lamp
black, and selling him as slave; but this
idea was abandoned by its originators, pos
sibly for want Of opportunity to carry j,
out. Now our adyenturer had observed
that SO long as he had charge Of gun
powder left to give away, the black Ter
had almost worshipped him as an incarna
lion of the Mumbo-J Jumbo adored by their
,, fathers. Rejecting on this, it occurred tc
him that if, by any possibility, he could
contrive to manufacture a fresh supply o
j the valued commodity, his fortune would
be comparatively secure.
No sooner had this idea arisen in his
brain, than, with prodigious perseverance
be proceeded to work towards its realiza
ton. The worst Of it was, that he knew
: the native names neither of charcoal, sui
phur, nor nitre. No matter; his stern yo
Iiiion was proof against all difficulties
; Having once conveyed the design 10 the
negroes, he found them eager 10 assist him
7 though, as difficulty after difficulty arose, il
: required all the confidence of courage anc
Z hopeful energy to control their savage i'm
patience The first batch was a failure
and it was only by pretending that i, wal
vet unfinished he was enabled to try sec
ond, in which he triumphcd over all obsta
cIes. When the negroes had really loade'
F, their muskeis with his powder, and tre'
J them off in celebration Of the event, they