St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-06-09
THE AUTHOR OF THE bogus PROC
u LAA1ATIONIN RETIREMENT.
His Style as n Writer.

letter in the Brooklyn Eay'e, purportinl
to have been written by Howard, "of tn
Times" from Ft Lafayette. The letter i
an excellent Imitation Of the style in whicl
the great 'Dead Beat" his fanciful nom d
guerre, was wont to tickle the literary pal
ates Of the leaders Of the Eagle:
CELL 5,sll, SECOND T1En, Fonr LArAY
ErrE, May 24:-Dear Eagle: In the Ian
guage Of "magnifcent" Vestvali, 81 an
here"
/ think shall stay here, at least till
get out
Perhaps you are surprised at my sud
den departure. So was I.
But received a pressing Invitation from
Gen. Dix to come down here, which didn
feel at liberty to decline, so didn't.
Bob Murray brought the invitation -
Bob Murray is United States Marshal, anc
he matshalled me the way should 60; sc
l thought it best to 60 it..
Bob is nice man; lie has very taking
way with him; butI wouldn't recommend
you to cultivate his acquaintance s:.'
You may have heard of Fort Lafayette
1t is great resort of friends of the admin
istrati0n-over the left.
THE LocArioS
of Fort Lafayette is in the water between
the Atlantic ocean and West Point.
1t IS good site for murine residence
but | haven't seen any marines here. II
is inaccessible on all sides, except the in
side. Its out-accessibility is what most
object to.
THE WAY YOU GET IN
is curious, and may interest your readers
who haven't been here. You can't 60 by
railroad, or steamboat, or horse and buggy.
The entrance is effected in highly mill
tary manner, ;ntentcd, believe by Gener-
al Dix, or some other man.
You 20 to Fort Hamilton.
Which is just over the way.
A l,250 pound she'll with the inside out
is provided for the purpose. You get in
the shell. 1t is then nut in 2:4O inch
mortar and rammcd down on barrel of
powder. The mortar is touched off and
up you 60. You keep going up about fifty
miles. You then come down and land
right in the middle of Fort Lafayette.
The artillery artist has attained great
precision in the range, and y Oh light exact
ly in the center Of hollow square of mill
tary people drawn up to receive you.
THE sEAsATiox
as the she'll goes up is peculiar.
When you have reached an altitude of
forty-nine miles, eight furlongs, the view
is magnificent.
You have birds eye view of Bath, Co.
ney Island and New Jersey.
made sketch of it.
Ill send it to you. d.,
Perhaps you think this is strange way
of getting into the fort, but isn't circum-
stance TO
THE WAY OF GETTING OCT,
which I haven't discovered yet. When !
do I'll let you know.
The people who keep the fort are of the
military persuasion, it is their forte. They
mostly wear guns or swords, and do cv-
erything in q military way, which is not o
civil way, though they have been very
civil to me.
The fort is substantial building, there
is no apprehension Of burglars. Sensible
people would rather break out than into it.
As a hotel it. is not equal to the Mansion
House, though 1hs terms are more reason
able. They don't charge any board The
only charge military people are given is to
charge bayohets. -
The bill of fare i, wholesome, but lacks
variety There is ~! :, -. p, ,'
:" Too5MUCH pORK.7
The bill Of fare, however, is varied.
We have pork and crackers for break:
fast.
Crackers and pork for dinner, and
Pork scith crackers for tea. ""
l think we shall have change next week
as the commandant has sent an order tt
New York for a barrel of pork.
When you write to me, inclose a buncl
of radlshes in the letter.
THE SOCIETY
)
Of the Fort is select. They arc mostly pco
pie Of Southern complexion, who have beer
recommended here for the benefit of iii eli
health. They don't generally see it. -
j There is no female society here. ~
f.. Nor no Union Leagues. 49,.
Nor no Philharmonic concerts.
Otherwise it's pleasant
The view is enchanting. Lovely water
scapes spread before the vision on every
side. As said before, the situation i;
marine, aid gives me the blues as gaz,
Upon it. d. t....... ...,. ...
There is no post Office in the fort, ane
correspondence is limited. Perhaps you't
like to know how l sent this letter. A pig
con Hew into the fort to day and 1 attached
the letter to its tail. If you getit, it vii
tell the tale of its delivery t.G,s 4s:'. III.
The pigeon is carrier pigeon, and Q,
may get him q situation as a letter-c carrie
under Postmaster Lincoln.
Somebody may inquire ~ ~ ''''. 7&i
'EaAt VIZ y 81. ,ft3,E q - g1fr
1lltell you confdentially.~oE a3# ,tui
The government is making extension