Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1869-10-22
Christopher Columbus.

not strictly truthful, historical sketch of
Columbus
In the town of Genoa, four hundred |
years ago, at ttwenty minutes past o'clock |
In the morning, very small boy came
into the world. We allude to the distiu-
guished &. Columbus, whose anniversary
the citizens of Chicago celebrated yester
day, An historical sketch Of the life and
public services of this remarkable man
may he 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. IL was at this interesting period
of his littstlat 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 psper boats and launched them,
and displayed such extraordinary aptitude
for navigation that his parents decided to
put him to school, While vet very little
boy he developed remarkable taste for
eggs, and used to rob the neighbors' hen
roosts in order to make experiments This.
was looked upon in after years asa signih.
cant trait in his character, since It was by
means of an egg that he made the great
discovery OF, his life. Christophtr's par
tiality forleggs, however, got him into bad
odor withthe 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 u beautiful cherry
tree, and with the impCtuosity of youth
he seized ahatchet and Topped of 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 il was then that the young Christie
pher made this remarkable reply which
will live rs long rs history repeats itself:
Father, can't climb tree; | can't
do it, t
lie 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 out something one of
these days. Ills careless habits led him
into pecuniary difficulties, and he was
frequently Obliged to fec from his cred
itors. On one of these occasions he sought
refuge in cave, and on awakening one
morning, his mind filed with the glOomiest
apprehensions, his attention was at
.racted by spider on the ceiling, which
attach her web to some object. Young
Columbus became deeply interested in the
spider, and urged it to try again. The
spider accordingly made the eighth at
tempt, and succeeded Thereupon the
young man rose and boldly faced his ere
ditors. The story got wind, and the prov
erb, "Try and try again" has ever since
been popular in Spain. H.5tC
On another occasion he was lying under
the shade of an apple tree, when large,
| ripe peach fell down and struck him In the
face. Without 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, as 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 agitated, and soon
| discovered that it 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 wanderings One
| evening he approached small village at
the foot of the Alps, carrying a strange
banner in his hand. An old patriarch
came out, and warned him not to proceed
any farther, rs they were about to have an
! avalanche, and one of the village beauties
made him tempting offer if hewould 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 large dog of the St Bernard species.
| Z Ills 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
ment of his native State. % They had to
pass small stream called the Rubicon,
and about this time his followers began to
doubt the propriety of the step they were
| taking when Columbus, striking an i'm
posing attitude, said Gentleman, we
have crossed the Rubicon, and there's no
such word as fail" From that time
the crossing of the Rublcon became a
standing joke in history. raJ-i-.I Il
His generosity of disposition was dis
played on many memorable. occasions
Once when engaged in bloodySriot,
| where number of Fenians had sought to
stir up rebellion, he was very thirsty
and went into saloon TO get drink.
Seeing number Of floafers 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 firm believer in the universal
brotherhood of man. hOneI evening he
went to attend reception given by no
bleman of high rank, but was. refused ad-
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 a man for a.
that
Getting tired of life in Europe, Column
bus resolved to 60 TO sea, and accordingly
he set sailin ship called the "Mayhower,p
- with a small band of poor but GOdfearing
men. He never told any of them where
he was going, having no very definite idea
of 1t himself, and when some of the crew
ventured TO hint that they were going on
q. wild goose chase he stretched forth hii
rightarm majesticaily and said Soldiers
from the top of that mast ten centuries
are looking down on you" Whiel
slenced them for time. But as they
sailed on day after day, and no prospee
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
tant horizon, and said, " / am resolved 4
fight it out on this line if it takes all sum
mer." He then went aloft and perceiving
after long look ahead, speck no bigge
than mans hand, he cried, in thrilling
4 voice, lIoai 3oit baS Blalg ps,is@, where
j upon his followers, with one accord, fel
on their knees and declared their inten
nsns. TheIship soon afteE struck tn
Plymouth Rock, where they landed an'
: drank To tho memory Of George Washing
ton. Trtf ti N
We come to the great event In the lif
Of this great mali \ Not being satisfied il
the discovery he had made, which ap
peared to. him as mere turn Of luck, Col
hinbus stfack out West and made the dis
J eoYeSy, Of the Chicago, TiYer, In, his ol,
age he always referred 20 this event witt
4 peculiar satisfaction, and % his latest dal
he never ceased 10 regret that he did no
- tQkq uD his Dermanent residence at Chi