The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1869-10-21
Christopher Columbus.

in the morning, very small boy came
into the world. We allude to the distin-
guished G.. Columbus, whose anniversary
the citizens of Chicago celebrated ycster-
day. An historical sketch of the life and
public services of this remarkable man
may be found novel and interesting at the
present time.
The father and mother of Christopher
lived very near the sea, and the child used
to wander down by the shore to gather
shells. 1t was at this interesting period
of his life that he began to wonder what
the sea was made of, and what kind of
shells there was on the other side of it.
He made paper boats and launched them,
and displayed such extraordinary aptitude
for navigation that his parents decided to
put him to school. While yet very little
boy he developed a remarkable taste for
eggs, and used to rob the neighbors' hen
rOOStS iii order to make experiments. This
was looked upon in after years as signifi-
can't trait in his character, since it was bv
means of an egg that he made the great
discovery of his life. Christopher's par
tiality for eggs, however, got him into bad
OdOr with the people of Genoa, so he ran
away from home and went to Spain.
An interesting story is recorded of him
at this period. Going into mans orch
ard one morning he saw beautiful cherry
tree, and with the impetuosity of youth
he seized hatchet and Topped off one of
the finest branches The owner of the
orchard sued him for damages, and wrote
to the old gentleman about it. The father
demonstrated with the son very severely,
and it was then that the young Christie
pher made this remarkable reply which
will live us long as history repeats itself
Father, | can't climb tree; | can't
Go it,"
He still had an eye for the sea, and for
| several years his studies were divided be-
tween boat racing and the science OF max
ing eggs stand on end In this latter
branch he displayed such proficiency that
his friends used to say Of him, "That
young man will find ont something one of
these days" His careless habits led him
into pccuniary difficulties, and he was
frequently obliged to flee from his cred
itOrs. On one of these occasions he sought
refuge in Il cave, and on awakening one
morning, his mind filled with the gloomiest
apprehensions, his attention was at
tracted by spider on the ceiling, which
| had made several Intellectual attempts to
attach her web to some object. Young
Columbus became deeply interested in the
| SDluCl, anu ulSCu IL W tly d8dlii. III
spider accordingly made the eighth at
young man rose and boldly faced his cre-
ditors The story got wind, and the PROV
| erb, "Try and try again." has ever since
been popular in Spain.
On another occasion he was lying under
the shade of an apple tree, when a large,
| ripe peach fell down and struck him in the
face Without a moments hesitation he
came to the conclusion that the world was
round, and this naturally suggested to his
| logical mind the idea OF going round the
world. Having no money, however, he
was obliged to fOrego the excursion for
some time, rs nobody would lend him "A
dollar He then devoted himself to domes-
tic life for time. One evening, as he
was waiting for the kettle to boil to make
cup of tea, he observed the lid of the
kettle to be strangely agitatcd, and soon
discovered that il was the force of the
steam. This set him thinking, and he
conceived the great idea of applying steam
to locomotives.
Many remarkable anecdotes are told
about his youthful wandcrings. One
evening he approached small village at
the foot Of the Alps, carrying strange
banner in his hand. An old patriarch
came out, and warned him not to proceed
any farther, as they were about to have an
avalanche, and one of the village beauties
made him q tempting offer if he would re-
main. The young hero rejected both the
warning and the entreaty, and boldly
shouting Excelsior" disappeared among
the snow clad heights, where he was found
by a large dog of the ST. Bernard Species
His decision of character was strikingly
illustrated on the occasion of his heading
large band of desperadoes for the pur-
pose of overthrOwing the City Govern
mcnt of his native State. They had to
pass small stream called the RubcOn,
and about this time his followers began to
doubt the propriety OF the step they were
taking, when Columbus, striking an inn
posing attitude. said: Gentleman, we
have crossed the Rubicon, and there's no
such word as fail" From that time
the crossing of the Rubicon became a
standing joke in history.
His generosity of dispsition was dis
played on many memorable occasions.
Once when engaged in bloody riot,
where number of Fcnians had sought to
stir up rebellion, he was very thirsty
and went into u saloon TO get drink.
Seeing a number of loaferS standing around
the bar, he promptly handed the glass of
lager around to the company, saying:
"Take it, poor fellows, thy need is greater
| than mine"
He always stood up for equality, and
was a firm believer in the universal
| brotherhood of man. One evening he
went to attend a reception given by a no
| bleman of high rank, but was refused adj
mittance on the ground that he wore
shabby clothes. In retiring from the man
| sion he was overheard to utter this mem
orable saying, "A mans man for a
Getting tired of life in Europe, Colum-
bus resolved to go to sea, and accordingly
he set sail in ship called the "Maylower,"
with small band of poor but God-fcaring
men. He never told any of them where
he was going, having no very definite idea
of it himself, and when some of the crew
yentured to hint that they were going on
a wild goose chase he stretched forth his
right arm majestically and said Soldiers
from the top of that mast ten centuries
are looking down on YOU" Which
| silenced them for q time. But rs they
sailed on day after day, and no prospect
appeared of their making a big strike,
they all commenced to growl again. Col
umbus took no heed of their insinuatiOns,
but kept his eye steadily fixed on the dis
1 tstHt uOIlLon, anu sitlU, L am TcSolEcu to
| fight it ont on this line il it takes all sum-
mer.' He then went aloft and perceiving,
after long look ahead, speck no bigger
than mans hand, he cried, in thrilling
voice, Hoai soft Qui maty p6nse," where
upon his followers, with one accord, fell
on their knees and declared their inten-
tons. The ship soon after struck the
Plymouth Rock where they landed and
| drank to the memory of George Washing
/ ton.
we ,n;s come ONE 10 .ne grea. event IN ,; .lie lie ne
the discovery he had made, which APP
| peared to him as a mere turn of luck, Col
| umbus struck out West and made the dis
covery of the Chicago river. In his old
age he always referred to this event with
peculiar satisfaction, and to his latest day
i he uaunr cod to rot tLat 10 did