Baton Rouge tri-weekly gazette & comet. [volume] (Baton Rouge, La.) 1865-18??, 1865-09-02
Vandalism ParasIing Itself.

ready to put into practice in the distribu-
ton of offices and office pap among parti-
sans Of their own peculiar stripe.
To depredate upon property, to destroy,
burn, kildare the chief Inherent accom-
paniments Of the grim visaged mons
ter" originating in remote barbarc age,
and handed down MS an heir loom to our
present age of boosted civilization and Ell =
| lightonment TO be nurtured and perfected
by ull the arts and appliances which skill
and science, and u religious zeal can bring
to bear in its favor.
There are those who, It may be, are pro-
| foundly imbued in ordinary seasons, with
a sense of ethical propriety regarding the
doctrine OF moua Of tn1tm, but who can
bring themselves to look complacently
upon thorough reversion of that doctrine
| when practiced in time of war. The set
! phrase that Calls fair in war, serves them
facile term, whereby to justify nnmerited
wrongs and injustice. War certainly is
| game, not of the skid -glovedn order, and
ia no respecter Of the pacific usages Of so
cety: and all within its compass are liable
| to be subjected to those ills and unhappy
consequences which are classed in the cate
! CORY of its fortunes" so that what often
times goes to make MP what il termed the
"fortunes Of war; prove in an adverse ra-
| ito TO be the misfortunes and ruin of peo-
pie. Patience aud fortitude may serve TO
phlosophize in time people to the endu-
| rance of great moral wrongs and injuries
done them by the devastating scourge OF
the afery god of bastles." They may
| learn to look on these rs inevitable conse-
| ouences; al perhaps "bIessings in dis
guise," but there is class Of evils-the
| fungus ohshoots of war which besides the
| injuries they inflict, carry with them such
| d load of vieness and contempt, as to
cause forbearence to "coaRe to BIO virtue"
| In this class il comprised in human shape,
the jackals which following in tho wake
of destruction, and keeping o convent
| ent distance from it, prey upon the 'leav-
| ings." OF these, are that pestiferous 4 ang
Of spectators and plunderers who, YAM
| plre-like, would suck the last drop of life
| blood from bleeding country and its I'M
| fortunate people, in order to glut their ra-
pacious appetites for gain. These are Of
an indigenous as well as exotic character
Next swarm that smaller fry Of felonious
gentry who bctray an itching palm for
everything that happens to come in their
way, whether wieldy or unwieldy. Some
times they assume the character Of ren, or
| amateur artists, and falling in love with
| the pictures statues and other embGlish-
ments of gentlernan's parlor, studio, or
sleeping room, make off with those objects
Of their devotion, and by sending them
away to distant parts, manage to enrich
themselves upon those spoils. Occasion
ally, ia their explorations, they come
| across some useful or ornamental outdoor
| appendage, and, prestol away it is trans
| lated also, to some other sphere to serve
| out its destiny. TO aggravate the matter,
those objects are sometimes held up by
venal writers in light calculated to re-
fleet odiously upon their origin and pur-
| pose, and the country whence they are alb
stracted. Our attention has been called
to case in point. The Cleveland Ohio
! Herald in it's eagerness to disparage South
ern character, must needs publish the fol-
lowing unblushing paragraph
IA CuySmS ReItc 81 .S20ge,y.-The iron
| statuette of n negro, that stands in front
of Mr.. Burridges residence on Euclid
| avenue doing duty AS q hitching post
was procured from in front of Baton
| Rouge slave pen, whore it was used as
| sign. The piece Of iron that it extends in
| ono hand, is a cotton hook~-hn instru-
nent that assists in the handling of cotton
| bales. The statuette IL artistic in model
| ing and expression, and is an interesting
| relic of detunct slavery
Now, be it known, that the well-known
| statuetto above referred to was purchased
| by worthy citizen of Baton Rouge, from
q northern house, and that it was designed
and manufactured at the North for the
NoIJ pulHVSo W WulCh ~ Wh5 uSblBHGu
here, namely, as hitching post for horses,
and no other. The idea that it was used
as "sign" in front of "slave- pen" is
not sustained by q particle of truth, and
could have only originated in q disordered
imagin alton, williul distortion of fact,
or, an over-crodulous mind. Writers of
the Herald editors persuasion, talk very
glibly about "slave-pens" and all that
sort Of thing, but we cannot remember
that our city Was ever honored by any
such delectable institution. The artistic
statuette which excites at once the admi-
| ration and ION account of the associations
with which he invests the innocent OBJ
ject), the gentle adherence of the writer,
occupied position fronting o building,
which was then used for law Offices.
But how, when and by whom, was that
statuette mysteriously spirited away TO
Cleveland, where it is now paraded as
lrontispiece TO Mr.. Burridge's premises,
No lq6 Euclid avenue w here it Was seen