Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1859-07-05

possible, and even added thirty minutes to their
ordinary business hours for my sole accommods.
, ton. But their kindness only aggravated my
! bewilderment by being evidently mixed with
tremendous doubt of my identity, the awful
{ watchword of this conflict with myself about
myself in which had enlisted. 1t was in vain
that they professed to think it "all right" and
made faint. t.advances towards the act of paying
down the money. My own doubts, as well ss
theirs must be solved; and though had the ad.
vantage of previous acquaintance with the sub.
ject of inquiry stretching over half century, I
could not as a rational psychologist or honest
man, allow them to regard me as myself, when
vague suspicious had arisen ia my own mind as
! to that point. Ny financial correspondent, wa
Irily foreseeing this contingency, for which was
myself exclusively responsible, had named two
friends Of his own in Buffalo, to whom could
apply for Identification. As drowning man is
said to grasp at straws, so I, before abandon
ling the long cherished dream of my identity,
Informed my unknown banking friends OF this
suggestion. To my great joy both names were
familiar. Might they look at my letter. Ger
Itainly. And at the envelope and postmark.-
This increased the mystery; but 1t was now
too late to hesitate. Again they said 1t must
lbe all right, and again felt that it was oil
wrong and insisted upon sssEidsntifa /
would find the gentlemen referred to. They
were not far off. The cashier kindly pointed
out their Office, and proposed to wait an adj
dtional half hour for my return.
! shall never forget the hot and dusty walk
that followed, not SO much because of these ex-
ternal Inconvenience, as On account OF tne
terrific clouds which overhung my hitherto
|unquestfoned, unassailed identity. reach the
building pointed out, large and stately one
of hewn stone, occupied by banks and Offices.
| Directed by number of bright signs upon
the wall, climb one fight OF stairs and then
another. An open door displays one OF the
names to which my letter had referred me. lts
owner is not in and may not be for several
hours. The other referee no longer dwels
there. ~ e,,3.e-.. s.e, saT
/ retraoe my steps. Again it is pronounced
"all ripht.n but with an evident and natural
misgiyinp, and again declare my resolution
| TO take nothing till identified. Nv feeling du-
ring that night of suspense and terror, can be
likened only to those of the old woman whose
real or fictitious sorrows had narrowed but a.
unused nv childhood. But, alas my case was
even worse than hers-I could not say as she
did, with groundless but oonsolatory faith,
aIf | be /, as do hope be, l have little dog
| at home and he knows me" "Whateverl little
doen may have had ''at home" certainly had
none at the American Hotel in Main street,
Buffalo, ard as read number OF "All the
Year Round" the dark shadows cast by the
early chapters of the "Tsles of two Oities,
were surpassed in density by those which now
involved my own identity. slept, but only
to dream of somealter ego, or to start murmur'
ing alter ct idem
| In the morning l must wait till ten O'CLOCK
for the opening of the banks, ana anotner
nf
some. courteous gentleman, who instantly went
with me to another bank down stairs, where
he repeated to the officers the mythic phrase
that it was ''all right" But here the case as
sumed, at least to my bewildered mind, new
Land awful complication. This kind gentleman
was perfectly acquainted with my correspond
ent, but not at all with me. So tar as knew,
he had never seen me, nor | him. How then
could he prove my identity, as bearer and re-
ceiver of the letter, any more than as payer OF
the certi6cate2 Before me opened an interim
nable vista of identifcations, at the sight OF
phioh my brain had we'll nigh raaled and stag.
gered. have only confused recollection OF
the question being put to my companion, "Do
you know that this is the right man q and no
recollection at all of his reply.
After this blank in my memory, the money
was paid over and bore 1t off with thanks to
lthat the whole process was failure after al,
and that my paper had been cashed, not because
I had identified myself, but because my identi-
fcation had in some mysterious manner been
dispensed with. May no Arcadian deDizen of
Stanton or Waynesboro', Bsrterbrook or Fish
ersville ever experience the pangs OF an excru-
ciating, yet abortve effort at self identification!
OF Buffalo need give no description. Main
street for business, and Delaware for residences,
deserve place among the finest samples OF A.
lmerican civi carchitecture and adornment; but
beyond this the merits of the town are not es-
Ithetical but practical. The minor streets struck
|me as intensely American in ug.iness, though Of
ten interrupted by startling contrast. But
perhaps my impressions have been jaundicec by
the ntermingled recollections OF my self.identi-
fcation quite sufficient to disfgure any place
however beautiful. spent two nights in this
great frontier city between east and west, then
crossed the head of the Niagara river In train,
embarked upon steamboat; then accompanied
the same train northwest to the Canadian Pa
ris; there exchanged into the cars OF the great
Western railway, which conveyed me before
nieht.tall to the British town of Windsor, oppo-
site Detroit. I never shall forget the wintry
wind that blew as we stood waiting on the
dock for the belated ferry.boat, which did e.
yentually come to take us over. was struck
with the felictous arrangement which avoids
the ceremonies of the custcm-house on this line,
as we'll as with the mastery though complicated
system under which the passengers arriving at
this point are classified according to their des-
tinaton, and yociferously ordered to the right or
left, upstairs or downstairs, as they go aboard:
Nor must fail to signalize the "appetisng,'
supper which was spread on this boat rendered
more attractive by the absence of all chances
for obtaining refreshments by the way, in which
respect this line is at great disadvantage when
compared with the admirable regulstions on the
road from Montreal to Toronto, which have been
already mentioned. A card from the Amer.
lean, at Buffalo, introduced me to the Russei
House, Detroit, where found the best accom-
modations and most gentemanly treatment. As
only stopped to rest and avoid nocturnal traV-
ell, l shall barely say that while Detroit exhlo--
its strong points of resemblance TO our western
cities. especially in jefferson avenue, which is
the main thoroughfare and very stately, it pos
sesses an old French element, as represented by
its convent and cathedral, carrying you back
through the new creations of Toronto and Bun
alo to the ancient towns oflower Canada.
| RAsoALLY JoKE.-The clergymen of Madison.
Wis. each found nice ham on the door step on,
recent morning, They were taken In thank
fnllv as surprise presents, but it turns out that
thew were stolen from the College Steward and
distributed by some students, who thought it an
excellent practical joke. The facts did not come
out in time to save the bacon. ~,
| In fishing, we have occasionally seen big
pike watching bait, and evidently weighing
| the chances between getting good dinner and
6einq q good dinner. He should have been able
to xva;oh very accurately--he had 90 MANY ecalee