The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1855-03-20

m(.;ve ma yoss and let me rip. Stranger Psy
i -v,ww~e,ll9Rs Es1r1 gs06!0teyvu
die, for pst Jiss:sysySnaon ,o Of you he Is
su:. n. s; .;s3ssSs as.'' Four e'"f Bowsry
b'hoysviffum New York, one after the otner
an Irish hod carrier with one hand ana pa
tFnglish prize fighter. They set n. 49,. -.
of menagerie ct him once, and tne giant
closed with him, and was heard soon ane.
wards to crack like nut. Inc gan. saio,
latter he cracked, that 1t was aaineo tsIna,
ton, everlasting shame 1t was for he hsd
CONC i, 70 vhip man, not grisly bear.
ColonaI Ousrg was blacksmith. He was
mt hv .nv means the sort Of blacksmith that
Professor Longfellow has described Hshad
NO boys to sit in the church among no little
daughter to hear singing in the choir. He
was not the sort Of blacksmith / saw once,
during my travels in Europe, in a little
village in the south of France, and who on
a broiling July day, was hammering away
at his anvil with might and main,-in his
shirt and with his hair in curl papers for it
was Sunday, and there was fete in the vii
| lage in the evening. No. Colonel Quagg
was very different kind of Mnlciber: nots
harmonious blacksmith or learned black
smith but a roaring. rampagious, coa!y,
knotty, sooty Vulcan of man. To hear him
shout out hoarsely to 'Zeek, his long. lank,
| bellows. blower; to see him whirl his tire
mendous hammer above his head as though
| it had been a feather, and bring it down upon
the iron on his anvil with such a mOnstrous
clang that the sparks flew about and the
flames leaped up the chimney and tripped up
the heels of the smoke, as if they were fright
ened out of their wits. This was q sight
| grand if YOU like-but fearful.
The colonelcy of Goliah Quagg arose from
his command of the Rapparoarous Tigers. -
These redoubtable volunteers were, Of
course, the agis of the Union, and the terror
of Buffum county. On fourth of July day
they fired off so many rounds of musketry
that their eventually blowing themselves up
with gunpowder was thought to be by no
means matter of extreme inprobability =.
The Raparoarer Screamer newspaper teemed
with cards headed "Rapparearer Tigers, at
tention ~ and commanding the attendance
; of the corps at reviews, burials or weddings
of members, or political meetings Colonel
Quagg, in his Tiger uniform, at the head of
his corps, yowing vengeance against the
Huntington National Guards, the Lower
!, Whittle Fire Corps; the Squash thorough In
vincibles; the Bunkum Defenders the East
/. Halleluia Hussars. Between which last
named volunteers and the Tigers there had
occurred a deadly fray at the corners Of Sew
enth street and Slog Avenue, Huntington
= | the Hussars being at last obliged to take re-
fuge in a liquor store, in the next block, and
| two eyes and unnumbered double teeth be-
y ing left on the field Col. Quagg brandishing
!, his sabre and threatening gouging, cowhi-
y ding, and etarnal chawing up to creation in
general and rival militia and ire corps in
particular, was great and glorious sight to
L see once, perhaps twice, but not Oftener for
the sun at MONDAY dazzles, and distance
= lends enchanrment to the voice of powder
magazine, or Vesuvius, or mad dog.
Colonel Quagg had neither wife nor rela-
s tons, chick nor child. He lived behind the
:, smithy, in grim cabin where for aught
1 anybody knew, he slept on the bones of his
1 enemies, or kept bears and wolves, or burned
birthstone and Bengal lights in his fireplace.
Where he was raised was not certain. What
he did on Sundays flor he never went to
church or meeting, and could not, in defer
Q ence to our citizens, work in his smithy on
: the Sabbath) was not known. There were
- but two things about him on which argu-
,. ments could be, with tOlerable certainty,
y held. That he liked rum-raw-W1ich he
u u drank in vast quantities without ever wink
u ing, or being intoxicated; and that he hated
u the Grace Walking Brethren.
!, What these or any other brethren had ever
Is done to incur this dislike was not stated but
= = it was clear and certain that he hated them
q q fercely and implacably. He acclaimed
= against them in drinking bars he called
them OpprObrious names in the street; and
: what was particularly disagreeable to the
brethren themselves, he made point of Civ
, ing every minister who passed bis smithy-
on horse or on foot, on business or pleasure
a sound and particularly humiliating beat
ing.
Colonel Quagg's method was this. Zeek,
the long, lanky assistant, would. as he blew
the bellows, keep sharp look out through
little round hole in the smithy wall. When
:, on the crest of the little hill in the valley
' beneath which the smithy lay the bridge
; over the Danube, leading to Huntington, was
| N ha he
a devoted figure of grace walking clergy
man, Geek would call out, "One o'them,
Colonel Whereupon, the blacksmith
? would lay down his hammer, and say grimly,
"Zeek, lie"
y The "ile,'' or oil, being brought, the Col
= would Herewith annOint a tremendous lea
n Their strap, in size and appearance between
q the trace for cart-horse and the movement
4 band TOR steam engine. Then would he
!. sally forth tug the luckless preacher by one
!, leg off his horse, if he happened to be riding
l., or grapple him by the collar of his coat, if be
v were foot, and thrash him with the strap
not till he howled for mercy-for the victim
v always did that at the very first stroke OF
T. the awful strap; but till his own brawny arm
a could no longer hold the mighty weapon. AL
h this was accompanied by food of abuse on
v the part of the Colonel: the minister, his
f congregation, sect, person, and presumed
character, were all animadyerted upon and,
alter having been treated with brutality, he
was dismissed with scorn, with u sardcnic
recomm endation to send as many more of his
, brethren that way as he could. to be served
in the same way. Then, execution being
done, and the miserable victim of his Zero.
city being gone on his bruised way towards
Huntington, the Colonel would stride into
, Sllas b. POwker's tavern, over the hill, hot,
perspiring, and fatigued, and, throwing his
terrible strap on the bar, and seating himself
on n puncheon, would throw his legs aloft,
half in WEAKNESS, half in triumph, even till
they reached the altitude of the mantle piece
would there rest them, and, ejecting a
mighty stream of tobacco juice, cry
Squire, strapped another Grace Walker.
Rum
Now this. as in the celebrated Frog and
Boy case wide spelling book reports) albeit
excellent sport to one party concerned, was
death to the other. Martyrdom had not ex.
actly been contracted for when the Grace.
Walking Brethren entered the ministry and
without martyrdom there was no riding the
Huntington circuit There was no avoiding
the Colonel and his awful strap. There was
| M pajnp round annfhar Thara ,ya, =, -