The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1857-03-25

s Ne 80.
THEMuTE AND BLIND EXHIBITION We know
not when we have been more grati6ed than on
Witnessing the exhibition of the mutes aud the
blind of the Louisiana asylum, on Wednesday
evening, ,undert the direction Of their able superin-
tendept Mr.. j. S. Brown. We could butmental-
ly exclam the scriptures are fulfilled, ssthe blind
receive their sight, and the deaf hear The
idea of teaching the blind how to read, must
have been communicated BY Him, who at first
said-slet there be light" The beauties Of
earth and the sweets Of literature, are no long
er forbidden the sightlcss eye; and without the
rapturous JOY of melodous sound, the deaf has
caught the music Of nature, and speaks. and
writes, and laughs with joy at his disenthral-
ment. As we satlooking 1.-THE happy smiling
faces of the mutes and listened to the sweet mu-
sic Of the blind, we could not but feel thrill of
Joy as we reflected, these well springs Of bliss,
have beentapped by the generosity Of the State
of Louisiana through her representatives in the
legislature. The large hall was literally crowd
ed, and the gallery filed to its utmost capacity
with eager listeners and attentive lockers on.
The exercises were opened with a modest ap
propriate speech from Mr.. Brown, setting forth
the progress made in teaching the mutes and
blind the many Improvements and now great
er facilities i'll learning. He was too modest to
say for himself what we will say for him, he
has invented or prepared book Of signs, and
being practical printer, came to the Comet Of
fee, the use Of which was given him. and set
up the type, superintended the job and hasnow
the best book of word signs published. We
have not space to dwell on each particular per-
e., - ,,IJ
WELL. The little blind girl who played on the
piano, and sang so sweetly, Ben Bolt touched
tender chord in the bosom of all those who
heard. Mrs. Hanson in the pantomine of tie
mute brother, we thought could not be excell
ed, until she gave US atthe close Mary, queen
of Scots. The vast audience were spell-bound
and the fall Of a pin could have been heard, as
she stood or moved, every gesture being grace,
every look eloquence itself. We have often
heard ofprofound silence, but never before feltit.
She, mute uttering no word with the lips, yet
SO speaking as to make you realise the full force
who was present, but will say we are not deal
ing in panegyric, but merely attempting de-
scrption.s 10 the Legislators of Louisiana these
precious ones belong, and in all their party
strifes will not be induced to forget the mute
and blind. e~-z '@ 81 B. R. Comet
A NOVEL HUMBuG.-It is barely possible
your readers may have heard or read in the
newspaper advertisements something about
lottery scheme called Perham's gift enterprise.
At all events, it has been industriously adveg-
tsed in the rural districts Of the country for
several months past Well, the drawing was
announced to take place in this city yesterday.
| |, ot,, lott op3
among the prizes were "a marriageable lady,
worth $4,000 in her own right, and a we'll
known marriageable gentleman worth $50 900.
OF course congregation of the curious assem-
bled-three -fourths of whom were very natural
y females. The whole affair was stated to be
guarded and adapted to all possible contingen-
cies, and an ex-alderman of New Y York stood
forth as voucher. If the lucky one who drew
sthe lady, from distate previous matrimonial at
rangements, or from happening to be of the
wrong sex, did not want her, he or she could
receive $4,000 instead; and in the case of the
manageable gentleman, $4,000 Iii
The affair took place, it is stated at the Chi
nese Assembly Rooms, and the aforesaid mar
.rageable lady, WORTH" &C., was placed upon
the stand, bedizened in silk and magnifed in
crinoline, the observed of all observers. One
hundred cents were all that was necessary for
a chance at her. and though the wags about
town say she can be seen any afternoon on
Broadway, it was evident the show Induced
sale of sundry chances among old gentlemen
with opera glasses and fast boys with COATES.
The "prize' was given out as arural maiden
from New England, black haired, well be-
haved and blushing all for dollar. 1t is
sad disappointment, that in all that crowd no.
body knows who won her. Whether this is the
finale of the Perham gift enterprise, am not
able to say, but perhaps, if the lucky parties
shalever become known, it may stimulate com
) petition to be humbugged next time.
>--.-.r~..--,--. New York snu.
SOUTHERN G1ps1Es-We learn from a reso
luton passed at a meeting Of the citizens Of
Louisa, Spottssylvania and Orange counties.
Virginia, recently, that there are gipses in that
region, a fact of which we were not before
aware. The particulars of the meeting were
published in the Lynchburg Virginian, and are
of course, authentic. The resolution in ques-
ton says:
' Resolved, That this committee pledge them
selves to search, whip and drive off all gipsies,
peddlers. sellers ol spirits to slaves without
license and permission from their owners, and
all suspicious itincrants traversing our section
of the country. .s...lzs... I'D. ...-.r rg--g szg
We have no doubt the committee will be as
good as their word. and the gipsies will either
have to give up their bad habits, or be scourg-
cd and expelled from the State. The "suspi-
Gus tinerants'' may be made to include al
most any body, and travellers through Louisa.
Orange and Spottsylvania, will do well tokeep
their eyes wide open, or they may find them
selves riding on rail, or trussed up to whip
ping post, with committee of citizens encir-
cling them with whips in their hands. As to
the Virginia gipses, we. do not know where
they came from nor how they got there. If
there is any southern Lavengro who knows
anything about them, their origin and their
habits, we hope he will let all the rest Of the
world share with him in his secrets respecting
these mysterious people. r. 4,:a .,s.
" -O~O~~~-~~-~~~--~~~-~~>~~~-.
We were present, on the 9th instant, at the
disinterment of the remains of Mrs. Mary Jane
Tompkins first consort of honorable P. W.