The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1853-09-09
Correspondence of Journal.
lNDIANAPoIIs Sent X 1876

INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 5, 1858.
DEAR JOURNAL: There is certainly great
need of some railroad facilities of commu-
n1catlon between your thriving emporium
and the capital. Copies of your spicy Daily
reach us only at long intervals, and that which
iraS news, has then become venerable for it's
antiquity. But the day is doubtless not far
distant when the causes of such DELAY viii
be effectualIy and forever removed.
Our community has of late had two sub
jects Of engrossing interest before its atten.
ton. And, by the way, it is not often, esp q.
cially in the dog-days, where believe we now
are, that people are so well furnished with an
tidotes against the heat, in the form of excit.
ing topics Of conversation. One Of these
is the celebrated fugitive slave case, or eel
lington vs.. Freeman" The day set for the
hearing Of the case, the 29th ult., was an,ic.
ipated with great and general anxiety, but
public curiosity was prematurely settled bv "a
withdrawal of the case on the part of Filing
ton, only two days previous. 1t has been so
long before the public, and synopsis of the
case so often presented in papers of other
places, that think it would be too severe ON
your readers to enter into the particulars of
it here. The naked outline of the case is
simply this: Mr.. Ellington, of Missouri, had
slave escape, called Sam. Circumstances
led him to suppose that John Freeman, a well
known colored man in this town, was the
fugitive. Accordingly he hid him arrested.
and process instituted. Before seeing him at
all, he described certain marks, one of a burn.
the other OF cut with an axe, (both of course
accidentally which would be sufficient to
identify Sam" An opportunity for exami.
naf IaI
Freeman'S favor--neiiher of the marks de.
scribed being found. Ellington nevertheless
persisted in his claim, even after it was clearly
proved that Sam. was in CANADA, and by his
own confession the fugitive from Ellington.
The case was finally abandoned on the testi-
mony OF a son of the claimant, that Freeman
was not the runaway. Ellington's pertinac.
ity in the case, and that too in the face of un-
questionable evidence that Freeman was not
and never had been his slave, has brought
down public opprobium on him here to an
extent that most men would dread to encoun-
ter. Proceedings have been instituted against
him by Freeman, for damages, which will no
doubt result in sore diminution of his world
ly goods, and for which he will find in this
bat very little sympathy
The other subject of local interest to which
| referred, is, the temperance movement men,
toned in my last. The interest on that sub
ject mas not abated. and public curiosity has
been kept active, particularly by expectation
OF the report of the committee appointed 10
wait on the keepers of drinking houses, and
signify to them it is the will of the people |
they should quit the trade. That report was
presented at an adjourned meeting, and has
since been published in our papers. Ii spec
lies. forty-tour drinking places, though the |
keepers OF about half of them pretend that
they sell nothing stronger than wine and ale. |
Only small proportion gave the committee |
assurance that they VIII quit and the rhetoric
used by some of the remainder was eminent |
" spicy. The end is not vet. Those who |
refuse TO abandon the traffic will probably
nave To learn, in some practical way, that |
outraged public sentiment is not-a thing to |
Kept Dy an freshman, took fire last Sundav
evening. 1t was on the edge of the town.
md stood alone. The engines were promnt.
y on the spot, and one single tub full! of VA
err would have eXtinguished the fire, but the
lremen played OIL the neighborinp houses
M strove with each other as to the heipnt
which they could throw, and amused them.
ewes III such ways, until il appeared from
ne slowness with which the flames PROGRESS
d, that they were likely to be detained on :,
he ground long time. For that cause. and
o other, they finally played few Jets upon d
DC fire and extinguished it, soreiy to the re. e
ret OF the spectators, and despite the re- c
lonstrances of many. :
Our citizens have heard with admiration of
ie iiberality manifested by yours towards the :,
lfierers in New Orleans. We are doino n
'mething here, aud hope net to be left behind al
her places, in proportion to our population. H
nd the measure of our ability. al
Yours, &C., A.B.C