The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1866-03-28
A Richmond Paper on Forney, D. D


degree of 3D. D." upon Forncy. Not that
he declared that most INSCRIPTIONS "artful
dodger" of the press Doctor of divinity,
but he dubbed him q "Dead Duck" and as
Forney happens to be the first man ever
thus solenlnly proclaimed by a President of
the United States to be u defunct water
fowl, the epithet has made him famous
Since the publication Of his celebrated let
ter recommending the deliberate intoxica-
ton of q certain theatrical I" star" for the
purpose of extracting secrets from him
which he hoped would blast the honor of a
defenseless woman, he has wellmelited the
title Of I'D. D." as the. abbreviation of
"Dirty Dog" but having been formally,
upon a solemn anniversary, invested with
the honorary degree of dead Duck" by
that title he will hereafter be popularity
and historically known. We say "histori-
cally," for history docs sometimes hang
such characters in chains, as all will re-
member who have read of the Vicar of
Bray.
The President having handed Forney
down to posterity as dead duck, the ques-
ton most difficult of solution is to deter
mine to what species of she great family Of
web-footed waterfowls does Forney belong.
We think the mystery one ofvery easy So
luton. We entertain too profound re-
spect for canvas BACKS" "mallard," fred
necks," "sprig tails" black backs" and
teal and summer ducks, to class such
fishy, greedy bird as Forney with any Of
these excellent species. ...
Forney is a dead didapper," and our adj
miration of the Presidents skill as quick
shot is intensified when we recollect that it
is next to impossible to kill this tishiest
and most artful of ducks with an ordinary
gun.
Of all the family of divers" the "di-
dapper" is the most dextrous at lodging
and turning somersaults in the water. He
is voracious and exceedingly fishy little
fellow, and bears the the same relation to
the great family of ducks that Forney does
to the editsrial fraternity. He is perpetu-
ally diving, and when he goes nnder no
one can make the slightest calculation as
to the exact spot or moment when he will
come to the surface.
Having in our younger days, padded
hours in pursuit Of, and expended pounds
of ammunition upon this wary and active
diver, we cannot too much commend that
splendid shot from the porticO ofthe White
House which "l1celed" the political "didap-
per over" AS this bird can never be killed
when his eye is upon the sportsman, For
ney, the "didapper," undoubtedly met his
fate when he was looking intently at Thad.
Stevens, and did not think that " the man
at tho other end of the avenue" kept
gun and shot tishy ducks upon national
anniversaries.
But the divings and somersaults of For
ney, the faithless, are now at an end. The
blind rage of insane abuse of the President
which defiles the pages of the Chronicle
and Press, remind us of the spasmodic flut-
terings of the "dying didapper" as he flaps
and qnivers convulsively upon the surface,
with heavy charge of executive duck
shot in his brain. ..a.
Years hence the old men of Washington
will tell their grand children how, one
bright 22d of February morning, "all in
the olden time" they saw President john
son shoot foul, greedy and iishy little
duck right in front of the White House,
and as an ornithological hero Of the nurse
ry, the dead didapper" will rank next to
the slain "COck rObbin"
a
ENORMOUS FRAUDs.-The Times cores
pondent asserts that if u fearless committee
were appointed to investigate the swindles
on the part of the Government officers at
the South, astounding discoveries would be
made. lie says well known Kentuckian,
now in the employ of the Treasury Depart
ment, in Southern State, openly stated in
his hearing that he had been forced to pay
$4,000 to Provost Marshal before he
could get steamboat load Of cotton releas-
ed from his clutches, although he had per-
mits from the late Secretary of the Treasu-
ry aud President Lincoln. He not only
offered to appear and make oath to tie
fact, but to contribute several thousand dol
lars towards the expense Of a commission,
If the President would send one there to
investigate Newark OH. Journal.
-.. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTERESTING EXPERIMENT.-Thc famous
experiment of Perkins, in cutting hard
steel by disc of soft iron, was, not long
since, repeated in the Franklin Institute
Philadelphia. The disc used was steel
similar to those from which small circular
saws are made, but annealed SO as to be
very soft. This was mounted on steel
spindle furnished with three-inch driving
wheel, and the whole was carefully bal
anced. The driving.wheel was connected
by belt with thirty-six inch Wheel on
the shaft CT which was ten-inch wheel
communicating with forty-e!ght inch
wheel driven by the engine. The engine
running at l20 turns per minute, the result
of the combination was that the soft steel
disc revolved at speed OF 5000 to 600C
turns per minute. At this velocity the
hardest files were cut into like wood, a
shower of sparks and blaze of light being
given off during the operation, but the edge
of the disc did now show any signs OF
injury
To The tone of the press of the country
on the veto message and the Presidents
speech shows how completely the old Re-
publican party is disrupted on the issues
raised by the Radical Congress. OF all the
daily press of this city only the Tribune
has taken ground against the President
That one paper cannot by any possibility
represent more than fifteen Thousand voters
out of the one hundred and fifty thousand
in this metropolitan district The Cincin.
natl Commercial, the ablest Republican pa
: per in the West. stands by the President;
SO does the Chicago journal, the Buffalo
Advertiser, the Syracuse Standard, the
Hartford Courant, the Auburn Advertiser,
the Albany Journal, and about one-third,
wa thnu1d in dGa If Tho otbpr panuhEeop