New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1863-04-24
a CuAPTRR ON TENTS.

OXHAFTEh XIV bN
When Napoleon found, at the siege Of vies-
na. that the wine which be bad ordered for
bis troops had been embezzled by couple Of
scoundrel commissarios, no ordered those pecu-
Iatipg creatures to be incontinenty hanged
Thereafter, eager commisiaries ceased pecu-
lating. or did it with secret skill Nothing
reused the wrath OF His Imperial Majesty lks
an attempt on the part Of bis underliug b
make meney out of war. He forgaye the
crime only when he was obliged TO, pardoning
one Marshal, with much cowpunction, end ooly
because the offender wss q frst-rate soldier.
No governing msn-Frederick the Great, per.
heps, excepted-was ever 80 thoroughly alive
to the Importance of minute details. He knew
the price Of everything from butchers meat TO
batteries. This was q turn which early pov.
erty doubtless had given to bis mind. Ia biz
youth he had known what, for want of money.
it was to 20 without bis dinner, or to eat
mesger one--in his great prime, he did noe
forget the lessons of arithmetic thus painfully
enforced. He could not be cheated in tho
price Of the haodls Of bell.pull for the So
looms of the Tuileries. He found. on the 90
casion of the refurnshipg Of that palace, that
for one Of these articles be bad been over
charged by third Of the real value. aud
presto! he struck one-tbird from every item Of
the upholsterer's account Old princes, up 70
their eyes in debt, sneered at this as tho penu.
robustness of q parvenu prince; but one excel
Ia, e th.f 3 ha rfty
ever, wanted money, Whatever else he mlghs
want What must be purchased. he was rtre-
" obliged to dispense with.
Here 10 q lesson to our authorities, high aud
low. Il ia true that Napoleon had no sreat
opinion of tents, finding the bivousc healthier
for his men, who usually stretched themselves
upon the ground, with their feet to the camp
fires, and caught cold or not as tho gods
might youcbsafe. Our soldiers are not 70
case hardened, and must have canvas shelsees
but it does not follow that the most delicats
Of them require q new tent once In six weeks
Given q good original material. honestly
sewed, aud no tabernacle could within that
period blow away. however high the breezes.
ISb uWhl, hpWcNOt hooFy tbO eS"o' N1S
yet, an honest Yankee, writing from Florida
Island to Boston newspaper, fDd' his econ
omical bile immensely stirred. "Our old
tents" he says, "just thrown aside, have
only been 10 use about six weeks" Only SIX
weeks-and here we have bfan-new ones.
white and expensive! This beats the old pen
knife and sealing-wax business in Congress al
hollow. When we were in College, we had
friend who wrote all his themes upon splendid
letter paper, which bad been furnished by our
Honored Uncle to his Honorable Uncle some
twenty years before. He informed US that his
dear father and oil his brothers and sisters had
an equally liberal supply. We should Mt won
der if certain families had tents at no expense
whatever, for their rural festivals for ffty
years to come. We should MT wonder il some
Yankee Spectator made his lucky, BY sending
of a cargo of disused tents to the Bcdouin
Arabs. We should mt wonder if hereafter
some Yankee Dives put a tabernacular device.
heraldcaIIy disposed. upon the panels of his
gided chariot, and upon the blinkers Of his
thoroughbred span, in grateful ackuOwleds-
ment of the original source of his wealth.
If we had the artists hand and eye nece%
sary for the purpose and equal to it, we should
like to model Contractor of the cormorans
species aud to lecture upon this lay.hgurs
through the ta1-paying cities aud hamlrt' Of
the North. The face should be Of GRASS
nodded from guns long since burst; the heart
of iron made flpm bits of uuseryceabe NOR
tars; the paunch should be stuffed with rusty
pork and mOuldy bread, but the feet should
be- of pure Treasury gold; around the shoulders
we would drape piece Of canvas cut from
discarded tent; upon the legs We would put Q
pair of shoddy ineIpressibes; in the hand We
would place pistol dangerous ouly to tho
user while shoes with paper soes should
guard the golden feet-the whole ~ DO placed
for the admiration of a tax-ridden community,
upon chair constructed from the timber d
some condemned transport, bought for great
price and not worth little one. We appeal
TO p. 7. Bsrnun, esq, the great Patriarch Of
ShOwmen, if that figure would not draw az
Twenty-Five Cents, with reserved seats at Fifty.
Nobody likes to growl at all these pecsls-
tons and pilferngs, because it does mt seem
patriotic to do so. In the ardor of our souls
and ID is an exceedingly creditable srdor-ws
are pleased to be humbuggcd, and swindlcd.
and cheated, and robbedLto be taxed upon al
we eat and drink and wear--to submit to
rise In gold In dry poods and Qroceries-to b