The Xenia sentinel. [volume] (Xenia [Ohio]) 1863-186?, 1865-04-14
From the Cincinnati Times of March 25.l
A Row in the Times Office.

OH' l. O4AS uOu / use 10 meet IOF amuSe-
ment with firearms, frelocks, fre-engines,
fire Office and the devil knows what other
crackers besides. Tile RigaZs.
On yesterday, about noon, whilst the
serious writer upon this Journal was sitting
in the counting room of the Times Office.
with spectacles on nose, and deeply i'm
mersed in one of his own articles which
had just come reeking from the press, he
was suddenly and violently aroused by the
report Of a pistol. The ball Whistled near
enough to his ear to bid a passing how'd
ye do? and found Judgement in the ap-
paratus Of one Of those itinerant boot
blacks, who earn a precariOus livelihood
upon the street, and who had iDgloriOuslY
fed when the fray began. We turned to
the scene Of conflict which was spread out
before US; and even now, despite the revi-
wing influence Of a couple Of cocktails and
bowl of coffee, our blood curdles to recall
the spectacle.
Two men, strangers to US, were engaged
in a desperate struggle, apparently bent
not only upon the destruction Of each 9TH
er, but every one present. The encount-
er between Roderick DPu and James Fitz-
james, Cuff and Dobbin, Little John and
Friar Tuck, to say nothing Of the many
battles and sieges of theatrical and literary
circles, was nothing to the impromptu af-
fairSOf-honOr. There they were, hand to
hand, foot to foot and muzzle to muzzle,
with only a railing, not supposed to be
bullet proof, dividing US and them. In
an instant all was confusion. Heads were
to be seen disappearing out of windows,
legs vanishing through convenient DOOR
ways, and cOlt-tails plunging franticaly
under desks, tables and chairs. A few
noble spirits, indeed, remained upon the
scene, undismayed by the rapid firing,
which now became general from both the
opposing lines Of battle, or the Wretched
Workmanship Of the cOmbatants. Herr
Freitag, Chief>of-Staf, with a arecklessness
worthy of a better occasion, fourished a
bottle of Arnold's 5 writing fluid, as an illus
tratiOn, perhaps, that the pen is mightier
than the sword. Don Sebastian, the fore
man, lowered above the field, with a COM
posing stick and proof. (The latter he
is ready to produce in CourtID Figaro,
police-reporter, like Napoleon at Water
loo, seemed lost in the magnitude of the
situation. What could We do, fOrsooth?
We do not like firearms. We never
ran a Sicilian nobIeman through the body.
We seldom take blood in our office, OF
powder in our liquors. Unlike Petruceio
and Louis Napoleon, we have never heard
lions roar, or the sea pulled up by violent
winds. We are plain, peaee-loVing fam
lily man, with a widowed mother and seVe-
raj fatherless children. In our infancy
we we're taught, and the lesson has ''stuek
to our gizzard," " that only
-"Dogs delight
To bark and bite.''
and, therefore, what did we do2 We took
strategy on it. We faDked 'em. We re-
treated in excellent order to a hospitable
coal-scuttle. The race for the scuttle was
US and Figaro; but we beat him,
and he was forced to secure an intrenched
position in the water bucket. Freitag
and Sebastian, the heroes of the occasion,
stood firm; aud when we were called from
our scuttle-Works, we found them, with
the author of the "Fairie Queen" Crap
pling the murderOus weapons, whilst the
leading "star'' now performing on these
boards was calming the elements and COM
peace. The brief, utdesperate
affair was over. The walls were riddled
with shetland she'll. A sketch, by Squint
of Mexican Buchanan Sin one Of his lead
ing characters" had a hole through its
nose, and three buttons were picked up by
q group Of eager neWsboys. But no one
was killed, and only a gill or so of blood
had been spilled. The "police" with their
ROnted vigilance, appeared at the close of
the melee, and order once more reigned
in Warsaw" A resolution of thanks was
then voted Herr Freitag and Don Sebas-
sian for their gallantry;it was unanimous.
y agreed that ourself and Figaro were en-
tilted to all the strategical credit displayed,
and the author Of the "Fairie Queer" was
leputed to chronicle the afairwith little
1f that "divine afiatus," for which be is
SO justly Distinguished.
The day is done. The deepening tints
# twilight gather around US, and the dumb
ltllC old40 bNluh4S AuuUCCulAI bnIUuEu Lu6
iilent skies The hum of city life flows on
and cats begin to NEW un-
Ter the garden wall, as though life, lber-
y and the pursuit Of happiness in this
metropolis, had received no corrosive, or
,heck. We are thankful to Providence
or the preservation of the corpOreal part
If ourselves to an afflicted freside, and a
arge circle of admiring friends; and as We
gaze into the CRATE, heaped with genial
jumps of light and warmth, and are crate
'ul for the blessing of coal, we do not for
get to invoke a benedictiOn upon all sUut-
les, and especially upon the particular
cuttle which afforded US refuge in the
lour Of danger. PIT.
We also, ike the day, are done. Ws
ay aside our pen, and our green silk
.ressing gown. Had we not vainly put
on and appeared with it in that place,
re had not run 50 near hazard. We are
lad we are alive. We may say that we
mile with benign complaoeney as we in
lite these lines We had rather roll into
.ur supper, as we are about to do, than
nto a metallic coffin, as we might have
lone. Qujd Ridesl IT'S no laughing
natter. Many a good tragedy has got
N without a coal scuttle, agreen dressing
own, or a pair Of sixteen shOotersl Let's
ry our eyes, and take a bit Of toast and
aa.