The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1859-04-26


almost beside herself with grief and appre-
hension, and the countenance Of the boy bore
painful expression OF excitement and fear,
caused BY the talk Of the wondering andsym-
pathising crowd. learned from the woman
that she Was on her way to Indiana to find
mad stone. tried to quiet her apprehen-
sions, partially, by assuring her that there
was no certainty and hardly fair presump-
ton that the dog was mad ct oil, and, even il
he had been, insisted that the chances were
very greatly in favor Of the child's escaping
without any serious effect from his wound
and, finally, / urged her to stop in Daven-
port long enough to apply lunar eaustic to
the wound and consult . physician. Here il
. woman, and only one Of hundreds Of thous-
ands like her, In the middle Of the nineteenth
century, and in this land Of intelligence and
newspapers, travelling hundreds Of miles in
search Of "mad stone.'' Yet these people
sheer at the superstition and ignorance OF
their fathers, ridicule the royal cure Of the
kings evil, scout witchcraft, ignore ssspslls,"
pity the folly Of former generations, and in
their superior wisdom rum after mesmerism
and mad stones.
Before | had the opportunity Of fully i'm.
pressing the woman with the propriety Of
stopping 1t Davenport, We we're ct the Juno
ton, and left her for the Muscatine cars
but even now the painfully strained eyes Of
that frightened child look through mine and
stir the fountains Of feeling and Of tears.
Aswe approached Muscatine, however, and
came down in full view Of the great father Of
waters spread out in wide sxpanse before us,
We had another sample Of ignorance still more
astonishing, but exciting . very different
mood Of mind. Apasseager, whose appear
ance and habiliments indicated that he was
deniEen of the soil Of the western prairies,
but whose middle age forbade tho idea that he
was to the "manor BORN" broke ont in .
simple and earnest tone with the honest in
quiry, "What river Is this2'' Whether that
mans ignorance 10 bliss to him or not, it 10
very certain that he could not have furnished
with any possible measure Of human knowl-
edge the same amount Of pleasure to his fell
w-passengers as they derived from that brief
inquiry.
The District Court was in session at Mus
cstine, and had the opportunity Of seeing
Judge Dillon, who presidss over the Court
OF this District with much honor to himself
and to the universal satisfaction Of the Bar
and the public. He 10 : man Of sterling
qualities of head and heart, Of superior
talents and Of great industry. And in this
connection let me call attention to the fac,
that all the District Judges elected by the
Republicans last fall are acquitting them
selves in such manner - to elliott the uni
versal approval Of the people Of oil parties,
and are thereby vindicating before the world
the principle and policy Of popular judicial
elections and rejecting much credit upon
the Republican party Of the State.
| Cur readers would hardly be satisfied
without some remarks - to the prospects Of
tho coming political canvass, and the proba,
bilities ~ to who will be candidates, and VI
should be very much pleased to be able K
crafty them in this regard but the truth is
there are but few definite developments ..
yet, and I'll nero conjectures would be oil
little value.
Dodge, it 10 very certain, will not be thu
Democratic candidate for Governor, and
Fisher probably will be. There are mum.
Der Of gentlemen spoken of ~ probable can.
didates, in addition to Gov. Lowe, befor.
the Republican State Convention, boz there
is no such de6nitsness or concentration Of
idcas - would render speculation on the sub.
ject profitable at present.
There seemed to be much moro intense
interest amongst the lawyers upon the sub
ject0f Judge. Chief Justice Wright, il il
understood, positively declines to be oandi.
date for reelection, Notwithstanding the pc.
titions OF members Of the Bar without dis
tinction OF party and the very uranimou,
desire OF the Republican party that no should
be candidate. His dsclinstion throws open
: vide field from which to choose, and "
doubt not both parties will eventually selec,
their ablest and best men for tho onerous
responsible and exalted position.
eTRsv. Henry Clay Dean il spoken Of .,
. Democratic candidate for Governor. II
the Democracy are not satisfied with the IN,
neral sermon delivered over tho corpse two
years ago by Ben. N. Samuels, 10 know Of
no person in their ranks who would be likely