The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-12-06

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tFrom the Cleveland Herald 2Sth.l
One Of those cases In which womsn's constancy.
under the, most trying circumstances, Is exhibited,
came to Hight In this city on Friday. The story
certainly shab the imprint Of the romantic more
than the seaity. and borders close upon the ina
giDatve ;syet the manner In which the facts were
told by the two interested parties clears the mind
OF all dolbt, and seems TO stamp II with truth.
The circumstances, as related to us, are suDstan-
tally as follows:
In the 5eginning Of ls4O. Henry LeffiDgwell was
q well-to,do mechanic, living near the suburbs OF
London, England. In the month of March of that
year. lsrceny was committed near his residence,
and circumstances pointed to him as the perpetra-
tor. He was arrested, examined before one OF
the stipendary magistrates, and fully committed
for trial. A month after, he was convicted and
sentenced to hard labor In the penal colony Of
Australia, for period Of ten years; and In less
than weeks time thereafter, he was on his way
TO the far of land. His devoted wife. who
all the time firmly believed In her husbands
innocence, at once made preparations to follow
and remain near him during his confinement so
that she might be the first, when his ticket Of
leave caIne, to cheer him with good counsel, and
comfort him with wifely love.
The ship containing the conviets arrived safe,
and her largo Of living human beings was at once
transfered to the government warehouses;. Not
so, however the ship upon which Mrs. Lefingwell
embarked. When about halfway upon her
journey The vessel encountered a fearful storm,
and, af{er bufietlng the waves for two days,
fngwellvbar escaping upon raft hastily con-
sructedvwhen II was found that the ship could not
be save. After an exposure OF several days
they weNe picked up by the Americon ship North
Wind bNund from New York to China, where Mrs.
Letting ELL was at length landed, only to find her
self furSer than ever from her destination, and
with noSJlmediate prospect OF reaching it. After
several l. onths Of patient watching and waiting
she was& nabled. through the kind Offices of the
AmericS b consul, then residing at Yeddo, to pro-
cnre pa sage TO Cuba, whence the prospect Of
reaching Australia would be much improved.
PsssiDe{oFer a space of q year and q half, in
which birs. Lefingwel passed through many
scenes Calculated to try frmer resolutions than
hers, b through which she clung to her resolve
with tr{ English obstinaey she finally found her.
self on ybe shores of Australia, but as much at q
loss co9eernng the exact locality of her husbands
whereabouts as she would be of q needle for
which I've was hunting In q haymow.
She Unanswered, however, but four long years
passed }sway before she was enabled to obtain
the slightest trace Of her husband, from the fact
that wl4n once landed from the ship each con-
yict red{ived number, by which he is only known
TO the Keepers. Mrs. Lefingwell knew not her
husban4's number, and when she made inquiries
she wal always bsifled with the question: I" HIS
numbe ma'am!" At the end Of the time
spoker of during which her means had be;
come exhausted, and she had been CON-
PEELED Id resort to mental labor, she one day
picked}hp Sidney paper In which was an account
of her R1sbands release, the real criminal Of the
lsrcen having been found and exported. The
account gave her husbands number and the
facts ich convicted him in so precise q manner
that 81 could not long doubt as to who was
meant& Her course was marked out al once.
Going ~ the prison authorities of Sidney, she at
lengths learned that ticket Of leave man
No. tS6}" her husbands number, had left the
island fdh the United States of America two weeks
after biz release. The next thing for her to do
was to- ftllow him. Scraping together her scanty
means, she found she possessed barely means to
pay beT passage. She seized upon the first op-
portrrssy presented, and in June, ls47, she found
herself once more upon the ocean, bound for the
land bJ the free, with her mission still unaccom-
plishtIi
In Eho time she arrived in New York city, where
she rtnsined until the civil war broke out, not
hsviDt In the meantime heard one word OF her
husbakd, though she had made every exertion to
find hk whereabouts. When the war broke out,
and he first call for nurses in the hospitals she
respoeded, and, until peace was declared, there
were tnone more faithful in the care of our
wour ned than Mrs. Clara Lefingwell. While 10
one u the hospitals at Washington, she nursed to
life al strength a man who knew her husband in
she arShv who had been his mess mate and boon
comp lhion, and who, in his derium, constantly
called his comrade to come to his assistance.
wheI.the crisis was passed and it was known that
the s&ldier would live. she questioned him con-
oern;kg her husband. and ascertained that he was
in Hnnsylvania regiment, having enlisted from
Pitttkrg two years before. She at once ad-
drestfd Leffngwell letter. stating in full her
efois TO find him. and detailing at length Ter dis
appointments and troubles. With the usual per-
versIke of army mails, that letter never reached
its destination. Mrs. Lefingwell waited and
wat{bed, but still no answer came. and at length,
whea the war was over, she set out once more in
search OF her husband.
Aisisit to Pittsburg revealed the fact that her
husbands term OF enlistment had expired long be.
fores and his identity was once more lost. She
nsested advertisements in a number of Pennsyl-
vanss papers, calling for information of his where
sbotts, and then sat herself again TO watch and
wais Time crept slowly on, and still no tidings
of kr absent one.
ASEeek ago, when she had given up all hope
of eyer seeing her husband again, she very unex-
pecacly received direct reformation Of his place
of abide from ono who came across the sdver-
tainiEGit had. very providentially. escaped the
destppdtion which usually comes upon the dailies
of tb1 different cities, and now was the means of
nnititg two persons who for twenty eight years
had veen separated by cruel fate. Our heroine
at ork made preparations to go to her husband,
who n YES In or near Cincinnati, and who had been
apprJed Of her coming. She accordingly left
Pitt&urg on Friday morning, and arrived in
Clestknd in the afternoon Of the same day.
Whsl was her surprise and pleasure on alightng
frop5he cars at the Union Depot TO procure some
Refreshments. to be confronted by her husband.
Fol- b moment they stared at each other aud
then with q simultaneous impulse, they rushed
into fach others arms, all unconscious OF the
gapikg crowd. who, with the usual curiosity, had
paused In their hurry to witness the scene. Tho
year4 that had separated them, though it had sill
tert6 tne neaOs Oh eacn anu lett lines OF care
upo4their brow, had not eradicsted the love they
bore Dns snotAsr. or torn from sbefr hearts sde
mem ry of the olden time, before relentless fate
had b cruelty thrust them asunder. The trials Of
the Jast were forgotten in the present Joy, and
fheystook the train for home at z inithe evening.
happy only in each others company. 1t was
while they were waiting the departure Of the Gin.
cinnsti train. and through the kind Offices Of one
of The Cleveland and Pittsburg Railroad officials,
TO whom Mrs. Leffngwell ha1 revealed part of
her history, that the above was obtained. Though,
as we said at the beginning Of this article, the
story has the imprint Of the romantic and unreal,
still we give It it given to US, believing in
its truthfulness.
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The editor of the Baton Rouge Advocate gives
the following as bis idea Of model 100 acre farm