Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1856-01-25
DIR. KANE.
4 skkreH. BY on. xurI.n rlprr.

pASSeu lntO nlSLplytst1e Rofltt wants 10 know
him personally, intimately. The grave ANDREW
erend chronicler, passing over his beginnings,
4 presents him abruptly IN his full grown great
i ness; menrender the admiration earned but the
sympathetic emulation awakened is concerned 10
know how he grew into his maturity of excel
lencc. This curiosity is not an dleness Of the
fancy, but personal interest in the facts that
springs out Of those aspirations which put every
man upon the ful6lment of his own destiny
/ How came this man to excel-what was in him
what happened to deyelopit? Some men
are born great some achieve their greatness
some have greatness thrust upon them" How
came this man by it ? Is it within my reach
also2 and, by what means? History provokes
US with sueb queries as these: Biography an
swers them,
Doctor Elisha Kent Kane IS not quite thirty
four years old, vet he has done more than cir
icumnayigate the globe; he has visited and trat-
ersed India, Africa, Europe, South America the
islands'of the Pacific, and twice penetrated the
Arctic region to the highest latitude attained by
icivilized man. He has encountered the extreni-
est peris Of sea and land, in every climate of the
globe; he has discharged in turn the severest du-
/ ties of the soldier and the seaman; attached TO
the United States Navy as surgeon, he is, ney-
ertheless, engaged at one time in the coast sur
vey Of the tropical ocean, and in month or so.
We find him exploring the frigid zone; and allthe
while that his personal experiences had the char
acter of romantic adventure, he was pushing
them in the spirit of scientific and phianthropic
enterprise g
As boy, his instructive bent impelled him to
the Indulgence and enjoyment of such adven-
lures as were best fitted to train him for the
work before him. His collegiate studies suffer-
led some postponement while his physical quail
ties pressed for the necessary training and dis
Eciphne. il was almost in the spirit Of truancy
/ that he explored the Blue Mountains of Virginia
as 3 student of geology, under he.guidance of
Professor Rodgers, and cultivated at once, his
hardihood Of vital energy and those elements of
natural science which were. to qualify him for
his after services in the field Of physical geogra-
ply. But, in due time he returned to the purl
suit of litarture and achiaVed the usual honors
as well as though his college studies had rcceiy-
ed no diyerSlon-lliS muscles and nerves were
educated, andhls brain lost nothing BY the in
directness of its development, but was rather
icorroboroted for all the uses Whichit has served
since. Ilegraduated at the University of Penn
syiYanla-trst in its collegiate, and afterwards
lin its medical department. His specisl reliShes
IN study indicated his natural drift. chemistry
and surgery; natural science its most intimate
converse with substance, and the remedial art
] in its most heroic function. He went out from
his lima 4KGtef good classical scholar, good
But he lacked, or Thought he lacked, robustness
of frame and soundness of health lie solicited
an appointment in the navy, and upon his ad-
mission demanded active service He WAS an
pointed upon the diplomatic staff as surgeon to
the first American Embassy to China. This
position gave him an opportunity to explore the
Philippine Islands, whichke effected mainly on
foot. He was the first man who descended into
| the crater of Tael; lowered more than hundred
i feet by bamboo rope from the oyerhanging
cliff, and clambering down some seven hundred
more through the scorie, he made Topographic
zeal sketch Of the interior Of this great Volcano
COLLECTED bottle OF sulphurcus acid from the
very mouth Of the crater; and, although he was
drawn up almost senseless, he broushtwith him
sportrsit ofthis hideous cavern, and the speci-
mems which it afforded
Before ne returned from this trip, he had as
icended the Himalayas, and triangulatetl Greece,
on foot; he had visited Geyion, the Upper Nile,
land all the Hydrologic region of Egypt; traverS-
ing the route, and making the acquaintance Of
/ the learned ,Lepsius, who was then prosecuting
his archaeological researches
at home again, when the Mexican war broke
out, he asked TO be removed from the Philadelphia
I Navy Yard to the field Of more congenial SER
vice; but the government sent him to the Coast
lof Africa. Here he visited the slave factories
from Cade Mount to the river BonnY, and through
the Infamous Da Souzs, got access to the bara-
;eoons of Dahomey, and contracted, besides, the
Coast Fever, from the effects of which he has
never entirely recoEed.
From. Africa he returned before the close of
the Mexican war, and believing that his eonsti-
tuition was broken, and his health rapidly going
he called upon President Polk, and demanded
an opportunity for service that might crowd the
little remnant of his life with achievements in
keeping with his ambition: the President lust
fhnT1
with General Scott, charged the Doctor with des-
patches to the General, Of great moment and
urgency, which must be carried through aregion
occupied By tho enemy. This embassy was
marked by an adventure so romantic, and so IL
Illustrative of the character Of the man, that ne
are tempted TO detail it. ~
On his way TO the Gulfhe secured a horse in
Kentucky, such as knight Grant would have
chosen for the companion and sharer of his adj
ventures. Landed at yora Cruz, no asked for
an escort to convey him to the capital but the
officer in command hadno troopers to Spare-he
must wait, or he must accept, instead, a band of
Erutfiau Mexicans, called the Spy Company, who
Hhsd taken to the business of treason and rickery
for livelihood. He accepted them, and went
forward. Near Peubls his troop encountered u
body of Mexicans, escortinga number of distin-
/ guished officers to 0rizba, among whom were
Major General Gaona, Governor of Puebla; his
son, Macmillan, and General Toreion, who COM
manded the brilliant charge of horse at Buena
Vista. The surprise was mutual, but the Spy
Company had tue advantage of the ground. At
the first instant Of the discovery, and before the
rascals fully comprehended their involvement,
the Doctor shouted in Spanish, "Brayol the
capital adventure, Colonel form your line for the
charge And down they went on the enemy;
Kane and his gallant Kentucky charger ahead
Understanding the principle that sends atallow-
candle through aplank, and that the momentum
ofa body is its weight multiplied by its velocity,
he dashed through the opposing force, and turn
ing to engage after breaking their line he found
himself fairly surrounded, and two ofthe enemy
giving him their special attention. One of these
was disposed ofinan instant by rearing his horse,
who, yvitha blow of his fore foot, foored his man;
aud wheeling suddenly, the Doctor gaTe the other
i a sword wound which opened the external lilac
artery, and put him AoFs de conduit This subject
of the Doctor military surgery was the young
Maximilian The brief melee terminated with 5
lcrY from the Mexicans, We surrender Two
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