White Cloud Kansas chief. [volume] (White Cloud, Kan.) 1857-1872, 1858-09-16

element Of victorious power within us
but we were without hope-and the in,
spiration of that hope was indispensable,
to make us TRY" Hence such a mission
gave Importance to the missionary, and
hence, heads and hearts were all open tc
me. ~ t'' TT Is ~ 80 -
Gen. Harrison insisted upon i'll
should 60 down to North Bend and lifl
up "the latch string" of his Log Cabin,
| did-intendsd only night tarry-bul
the latch string there that let you in, did
not so easily let you out. The old Gen.
eral, then as light and 1.-THE as boy, Left
the Cincinnati levee in steamer, with
groceries, provisions, and household 50.
forthS, enough to load a pack horse. ]
helped him to the best Of my ability with
his burthens, and in about an hour we
were dropped at the North Bend not
far from the then famous Log Cabin,
which was just beginning to acquire its
fame in the country, The General and
mot 1 and the General) picked up "the
things" and carried them to the door,
where the good Mrs. Harrison met us, and
lightened us, in part, of our loads. The
Log Cabin was not exactly what expect
ed to see. There was Log Cabin, to be
sure-the original Log Cabin where Gen.
Harrison settled-but that Log Cabin
had been boarded over, and frame houses
had been added on, or hitched on, rather,
as the children or grand children increased
in number, aad as visitors had come in.
The furniture was plain and simple
There were signs Of comfort, such as
western farmers have, but there was no
luxury, or sign of luxury. about the place
The General had told me, l think. that
he had there 200 acres of land-aud
good land it seemed to be, some of it
Ohio bottem-but | could not say it was
an estate in high, thrifty order, and my
impression was that the General was a
far better soldier or Statesman THAI far
mer. La-aoors, however. was what ia
terested nae, not the eat 6oors-and of
the iiiustrious tenant Of these indoors, |
have few words here to write.
Gen. Harrison went TO bed early, by
or before 9 o'clock, and was up in the
morning by or before 4 O'Clock. These
not haviRg been nay hours Ct life Of edi-
tor of morning newspaper. nay bed
time then being about the hour he got up.
| cannot say the hours to me were very
agreeable. 1t requires some drilliag,
some experience, for one not used to It, to
go to sleep at 9 O'Clock, aad mere drilling
to wake at 4 o'clock Every sensible
man. however, when in a strange house,
fits his habits to the house, and 1 soon
fitted mine. After Gen. Harrison had
made his mstutiAal visits to the cattle in
his barn, he made regular visit to my
bed room and made me, sometimes before
l awoke, a big wood fire, the cracking Of
which would disturb nay slumbcrs aad
arouse me. My surprise, my utter as
constituent at first, upon seeing candi-
date for the Presidency, an illustrious
soldier, renowned General, an ex-
Minister Plenipotentiary, AN Ex-Governor,
a son of the signer of the Declaration of
Independence, thus acting servant" aud
making my fire, can be fancied but not
by me described. Nevertheless, there was
the General, and there was the future
President of the United States The
fire made, he sat down for an hour, and
even a two hours chat His converse
ton to me was SO instructive. so interes-
ting, so charming, that l could never get
enough Of it There was History T"
talking to me-vocalizing-not in dead
written letters, but in living, breathing
language-and there was History answer
ing my questions, solving my doubts,
EMBEDDING and explaining everything that
l wanted to know, not only of the West,
1.-THE great West" its Indians, its prai-
ries, its rivers, its adventures. debut
also of the East, or at least that part of
the East away over the Alleghanies, or
James river, the classic ground of old
Virginia. My fireman was link of the
Past with the Present-of the men and
things of Jefferson's day, with the busy,
noisy men of 1S40. 1t was charming to
hear from his past revolutionary sketches
of boy life onJames river, at Berkes, at
Wilton, at Brandon, at Williams, I'M
known in our day, and unwritten now,
almost, except in the fancies of Kenuedy's
Swallow Barn." What most interested
me, however, was the wild life of the
woods in Indiana, on the Western lakes,
or in Michigan and in Canada, when the
General held high office, civil or military,
and l listened, and listened, and listened,
in rapturous delight, to truth that seemed
all romance or facts that sounded more
like fiction. Tecumseh," and the
"Prophet," were brought up living, as it
were, before me, and / fought over and
over with the General in Chief the Indiana
Indian skirmishes. and first and foremost
the trying one of Tippecanoe. There was
then more to be learned of our early
history, of its. ways and manners, and
fashions and incidents, by talking with
him day than one can read in year.
This history ought to be all gathered up
in the West before it passes away.
Two whole weeks thus flew away, in
this sort of gossip, and 1 became, as it
were, an inmate Of the family. The study
of a character, even then, in my mind,
almost certain to be President of the
United States, became of course an inter-
esting study. The public were then told
Gen. Harrison, if he ever had any sense,
has none now Drunkenness has lost
him what sense he had "A Committee
surrounds him. and be is not allowed to
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