Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1868-05-19
From the Southern opiniOn.l
IA Relic ofSouthern Barbarism."


The Cincinnati EUcntng Chronicle is twin
brother of the Washington Chronicle in its
penchdnt for sensational political lying and
general manufacture of Munchausen stories
concerning the South aud its people. But
the Cincinnati Chronicle, unlike its Washing-
ton namesake, rarely reaches Virginia, ez-
cept in exchange with the Richmond press.
We have before us recent copy, in which
appears letter from its Chillicothe TOhio7
correspondent, evidently instructed to hunt
on the trail of the sensational'and stupendous.
Coming over the Marietta and Cincinnati
road, this correspondent had good luck or
i'll luck) to fall in company with two modern
Gullivers-Messrs. j. N. Wright and S. NJ.
McNIahill-who, observing green subject
in the correspondent, proceeded to "gulP
and "stuff'' him with stories of "Southern
barbarism" and .rebel barbarians," all of
which tine espondent-verdant as the
spring fields and foliage-proceeded to serve
up horror dish for the nervous readers of
the Chronicle. His tale unfolds thusly:
s'These topics naturally elected sundry pa
renthetical comments upon the Southern char
acter, and in the course of these Mr.. Mona
hill happened to remember that he had in
his pocket a relic of the barbarism exhibited
ISby the L. f. VS.. toward John Brown and
his confederates; and, producing his pocket
book, took from that receptacle small piece
of well finished leather of remarkable fine
ness of texture "That," said be, sis piece
of the tanned skin of Oliver p. Brown, son
of the famous John Brown" s'Can it be
possible?" asked an excited bystander. a
full explanation was of course Immediately
demanded, which here present as substan>
TALLY given by Mr.. McMahill whose reputa-
ton for truth and vcracty stands unim-
peached by any one who knows him:
During the action in which John Brown
and his little abolition band were captured
by the Virginians, Oliver p Brown was shot
dead on the railroad track near the United
States arsenal, at Harper's Ferry. So soon
as killed, he was taken up, put into box,
and shipped to the Medical Institute at Win
chester, Virginia, to be used in the promo
ton of the professional training of Southern
IGsculapians. Upon the reception of the
body, the students of that school took off the
hide somewhat after the manner of skinning
beef, tanned it, and had it manufactured
into moccasins, which in the most truly chiv-
alric style, they delighted to use as ornaments
to their "blooded" pedal extremities on all
public occasions.
The piece shown by Mr.. McNlahiA was a
scrap left from the cutting of these Yankee
skin slippers, and was procured in 1860, at
the Winchester Medical Institute, by Mr..
McMahill while he was visiting some rela-
tives in the vicinity of that place. 1t was
voluntarily presented to him by one of the
students, who, after triumphant parade of
the slippers, and description of the process
by which they were produced, heroically ex-
claimed, ''That's the way we se've you Id
Yankees when ye come 'mongst us an don't
walk afteh Duh style"
"Afteh Duh STYLE" is Yankee afectation
and burlesque upon his own nasal twanging
of the English language cross between
Yahoo and Yankee. but is not after the style
of Southern students.
But that "piece of the tanned skin of Oils
yer p. Brown" whose soul, maybe, is march
ing on" along with his fathers awakened the
enthusiasm Of the correspondent, who NOR
Allies:
"Whv it is that this delicate morsel of
Southern chivalry has hitherto been with
held, as a matter of news, from the mud -sills,
whom it was designed to terrify, do not
know But its intention, which is no more
remarkable than the non-publicity of many
other things of like character, is no doubt
largely due to the failure of such men as Mr..
McNIahill to hand it over to the press"
We will tell you why, Mr.. correspondent
of the Chronicle. Until Mr.. McMahill, of
Greenfield, Ohio, met you, he had not en-
countered correspondent who was big enough
fool and ignoramus as to believe story of the
ssslippers," made from the tanned hide of
John Browns son. Mr.. McMahill, no doubt,
is known in Greenfield as practical joker,
and therefore has to go away great many
miles from home to let off his jokes success
fully.
The gullible correspondent of the Cincin-
natl Chronicle is his last victim.
~ Gen. Farnsworth, Radical hummer,
was to have spoken in New Market and
Woodstock last week, but Col. Baldwin being