Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1868-01-10

And yet could live II over,
This life that stirs in my brain; iss1a
Noon Noon and tide, bee became. and clover, % s .a
AS / seem to have been, once again
Could but speak IT and show 1t, s@
This pleasure, more sharp thau pain, tt NJ
That battles and lures me So IA, .,,, .
The world should not lack poet
Such as IL had in the ages glad, R. tst'
5as.g d auR -.--.--Gss- -s.---4g-l --sls~a1 De ~
How the Soldiers Made a
seal of IRON al, ssgg
Colonel George Ward Nichols has
added supplement TO his .'Story Of the
Great March''-one of the most success
ful war-bcoks published I'm this coun-
try. The supplementary chapters,
grouped under the general heading of
Z" after the War; contains some pleas
ant sketches, illustrating the charac-
ter of General Sherman, and the wit,
humor and good feeling Of the soldiers
of his army. Among the new stories
told by Colonel Nichols Ii one called
'The Seal of Iron.n ~ q aiHl e.lt
In the Connecticut Valley, ever 90
many thousands or millions of years ago,
when the land was lower, or the waters
of the sea rose higher, there was broad
fiat beaches which at each turn Of the
tide were left bare. Over these beds of
mud ran many animals, enormous,
birds, Of whose existence there re-
mains In our day no evidence save
their huge tracks imprinted upon
the yielding earth, eternally fixed
there by the succeeding tide, which
over spread them with glittering
veil, of sand, by and by to harden into
stone. "A silent, immutible record that,
which tells the student of to-day the
history Of ages yast
AS the traveller journeys through
Great Britain over the Continent, the
garrulous guide will point him
to some broken wall or ruined
archway, aud tell him that many cen
turies ago legions of Rome had camped
there, and now and then we read oil
excavations which have brought to
light tables of bronze, or weapons OF
war, which reveal to the curious antis
quarry another chapter in the history
of gone-by races of men.
The campaign and marches of the
Northern armies over the Southern
land will be remembered In nursery
story and thrilling legend these many
years, but here and there a mark was
made which will outlast the memory
of man--a tale of justice justified, and
printed In blood with letters of fire.
One morning I'm the month of Februa-
ry, 1865, q detachment of troop from
Sherman's army were at work break
ing railroad. This great host of fight
ers and marchers had left the city of
Savannah behind them, gift Of con-
quest to the nation. With giant
strength, with noble endurance, with
wonderous patience they had struggled
waist deep through swamps which had
been deemed impassible, they had
built thousands OF bridges, they had
SWAN the treacherous streams, always
i'm the face and fire OF desperate foe.
They were well used to bending and
twisting these strips Of iron, destroy
ing these great arteries of the life of the
all the way from Vicksburg, through
Memphis across the mountains, over
the hills and plains Of Georgia, they
had reached the great Of the great sys-
tenn, and the heart OF disloyalfy as
well, where the great highway of trade
and treason met and separated 10 their
farthest bound. It was q still, sunshiny
morning, Of Sabbath quiet, that Of
which write. Far away to the west
the railroad track run TO n point, and
was lost TO the horizons edge. All
along the way was marked by light
| columns Of smoke, which lazily lifted
themselves into the misty air. About
these swarined thousands of men feed
| ing the flame, or bending the heated
iron into strange, fantastic shapes, az
their fancy or accident might direct.
In the foreground of this scene there
was enacted one OF those solemn dra-
matte incidents which symbolized q
nations history, wherein the actors,
impressed with one present, ALL power
ful idea, unconsciourly became proph.
| cts as well. Deft OF hand and earnest
Of will, party Of workmen-soldiers
fashiosed the white heated rails into
the two letters III 81 With many q
shout and stern exclamation, the earth
was excavated at the exact point oI
centre ut the great cross roads. A mas
the cavity TO the level Of the way. To
spike, were fastened the iron letters
sym bolic of union. liberty and law,
and when IL was all compisted, and u
8 shone In the sun a. III they had grown
into the soil, q rough, sun-burned sol
dier Of the West raised his weather
stained hat from his broad forehead,
and with something Of sadness, and
more or proud confidence, and yet with
that subfimity Of thought which 10 the
voice Of God speaking through the peo-
pie, exclaimed, "There, boys, we've
planted an iron seal right In the centre
or rebellion. These fellowssllall know
that the United States Government has
been here and left its mark. @4
A few months from that day, and the
Confederacy, which for long years had
lifted its naughty front before the pow
er of our arms, went crumbling TO the
earth, smitten at its foundation, . hope
less wreck, an eternal ruin. The iron
seal had made deeper imprint than
the Western soldier hoped or thought
and 1t shall 60 down the coming centu.
ries the signet OF the government ol
law and the people. 1900 ''e .ssH'siF
A good one Ii told of'an aged Nor
mon, who, not liking the play of tht
lssLady OF Ly0ns.n ~ performed at Sal
/ Lake, arose and went out with, shii
twenty four wives, angrily stating tha
A. x-f--a n 4.