The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1862-12-13
Saturday Morning, Dec. 10, 1862.
Selections from Foreign Papers.


respondent of the Morning Post, writing from
Adrianople on the 14th of October, reports a
wholesale murder, accompanied by acts of the
most atrocious cruelty, and followed by results
which have thrown more than one family into
mourning and grief perpetrated in open day
on one of the most frequented roads of Euro
pean Turkey, near Ouzoundjo ova, village half
way between Adrianople and Philioppolis. The
Rev. VIM. Merriam, an American, for several
yeass resident in this country, (says the letter.
beloved and respected by all who knew him,
while proceeding with his family consisting of
his wife, an infant child, and nurse to his sta
tion at Philioppolis, in the company of fifteen
travellers, who had united together for the sake
of safety, and under the escort of two govern
ment guards, was attacked BY band of six
Albanians, well mounted and armed, at about
two miles distance from Ouzoundjova. Mr.. Me
riam and party, on seeing this band coming
down upon their, were conscious that they were
in danger. Their worst suspicious were at
once confirmed on seeing the two government
guards, who were about fifty PAGES in advance
of the party, make way for the robbers by
scampering away at full gallop. Although all
OF the party were more or less armed, Mr.. Me-
riam himself having six-barrelled Colts re-
volyer, they were in position which prevent
ed the use of their arms. Only one of the par
ty, a lad, was mounted; the rest were in tall
cabs, kind of rough cart of the country. The
driver of Mr.. Meriam's taicah tried to escape
by beating his horses into full gallop. Two
of the assassins charged and shot the horses
this of course, stopped the talicah. Mr.. Meri-
am, while jumping out of the talicah, appa-
rently to defend himself and his family, was
struck down by two pistol balls. One of the
assassins dismounted, took possession of Mr..
Meriam's revolver and watch, and began stam-
ping his face with his feet. Mrs Merriam dis
mounted from the talicah and implored the
villain to desist. He struck her once with the
back of his sword, and then reioined his COM
panions, who were engaged in their bloody
work. They wounded driver, a Mahometan,
who had endeavored to escape, and into whose
talicah they fired yolley, killing a rich baker
"a Christian of Adrianople-and woundng
Hellenic merchant of Phlioppolis. The driver
subsequently died. Evidence was given by
those present at this tragedy that the same as
sailants who used so cruelty Mr. Merriam also
drove one of the talicahs over the body of the
wounded driver The assassns next attacked
the remainder of the party, ill-treated some of
them, and robbed them of the articles of value
on their persons Mrs. Merriam behaved on this
occasion most herocally, and with true Chris
tian courage. She procured some water from
rivulet in the vicinity, washed the wounds
on the dead body of her husband, and cleansed
his disfigured face; though under great moral
and physical suffering enhanced by her being
In the family way, she had courage and good
ness OF heart to 60 and minister with her own
hands TO the bleeding wounds of the others of
the party. The runaway guards, in the mean
time, had entered the village of Ouzoundjova,
and were found there quietly smoking their
pipes. The officials of the village first receiy-
ed notice of the massacre that had been perpe-
trated almost under their eyes from one of Mr..
Meriams party, who had shortly after follow
ed the guards to the village. 1t appears that
these authorities gave every attention in their
power TO Mrs. Merriam and the other victims
of the assassins. They assisted Mrs Merriam
to carry the body of her husband to Philioppo-
lis. We may judge of the strength of her af-
fection by the fact that she travelled in the
same talicah with the body during two whole
days in the heat of the summer. Six days af-
ter her arrival at Philioppolis she gave birth to
twins by miscarriage, and seven days after she
herself died, and was buried by the side of her
husband.
The FEATHERED ENIGMA.--A correspon-
dent of the Times writes A discovery has
recently been made which has thrown the ge-
illogical world into convulsions. In August
last year, Won Meyer, of Frankfort one of the
most distinguished paleontologists of the age
announced the fact that fossil feather had
been found in the Solenhofen slate of Bavaria
The feather, even to the finest fibre, had been
exquisitely preserved, and in structure could
not, after the most searching examination, be
distinguished from the feathers of existing
birds. Previously, no certain indications of
the occurrence OF birds had been detected in
strata anterior to the oldest tertaries. Shortly
after the publication of Won Meyers discovery,
it was ascertained that collector at Pappen-
helm, in Bavaria, had in his possession a slab
of the Solenhofen slate, which presented the
remains of a strange creature, differing remar-
kably from all known birds, and yet provided
with feathers. Fortunately for science, a dis
tingushed anatomist OF Munich, Professor Op-
pei, had an opportunity of closely inspecting
the Pappenheim slab, and forthwith conmuni-
Gated the results of his examination to Won
Meyer, as well as to his colleague at Munich,
Andreas Wagner, Professor of Zoology, and
keeper of the Natural History Museum of that
city. Wagner Immediately published descrip-
ton of this extraordinary fossil in the Proceed
fngs of the Academy Of Sciences at Munich,
although he had never seen the fossil ITSELF and
relied entirely on oppels account of it. He
concluded that the creature was feathered
reptile, and not a bird; and he accordingly
named IL Griphosaurus, from the two Greek
words signlfylng enigma and lizard. In April
OF tne present year, Won Meyer published a
detailed memoir on this fossil tPdtnontogrd-
phscd, Vol. l0), founded likewise on the COM
munlcatlon received from Opel, and not on
personal observation. The characters of bird
and reptile are so balanced In the fossil i'm oues-
ton that, with the caution worthy of a true
philosopher, he abstained from referring it to
either class. and proposed for it the appropri-
ate name of Arch9optergr LithogrdDbica,
Translations of Wagner's and Won Mever,s