The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-11-23
Huge STORIES.

dpecuiiar, and have the traits Oh ao' a..
lcourage, and intrepidity peculiar " W, VI, -,
tcountw and the circumstances III W. w.
Its inhabitants have been placea' anu 49,
,,anhnnd ond daring have never oeeh e'>.
LII ON e,rth. All great things sugges.
limitations, parodcs, ourieSques' "n ~ tho
80 6, the real achievements u VA.
t;ers,nen have given birth TO ti.e o1>oi"'
,.agont stories of CROCKETT ana Tue nun.
- If others to whom stories have beeh
edited in order to give them piausiolhty'
,s time has gone on, the mania LOT stor!'
.o,,;np in the West has extended, anu IN.
cre,se,, in variety and ingenuity, SO that
there Is no spot of the globe that eau equ"'
the West" of America for startling, nor
dble. amusing, witty, gross, cunning s.o'
ries and .ssels." The papers are IN tue
habit of playing off inventions OF tne faies'
kind as genuine. Locality, dates, nahes'
and circumstances are given 10 inereis !,
made-up stories, and many are copied anu
travel over the Union without correctioh
or denial.
Not long ago we had the story OF the
breaking in Of the lions cage Win tne
whole band of the menagerie sitting upon
it, the musicians falling in amongst tne
lions, which nearly ate up four OF Ihen''
and dreadfully wounded the others. IL WIS
told with n minuteness of detail that was
shocking; but the fortunate part OF Inc ae'
cident was that it happened in front OF
hardware store, whose proprietor gene
| rouslv and humanely opened his doors 10
| he crowd that they might arm themselves
with axes. saws, chisels, hammers, KNIVES,
&C., to cut up, saw in two, ana pumme'
the animals into subsection, which the men
fthus armed did most eGectually. and decl'
siveIv. Sad was the scene Of the COLLECTION
of the remains of the musicians ana ti'en
interment with the funeral strains Win
which they had so often played others out
Of the world.
This story went the rounds until our
friend of the Norfolk Journal got hold OF II.
He had so little respect for the melancholy
narrative as to declare it hoaX-an 1mpu-
dent fabrication. Attacked in this way,
others yentured to express doubts, and one
went so far as to say ironically that he put
faith in it chiefly because the lions eat UP
the musicians no doubt in revenge for The
bad music they had so often played over
those kings of the forest Yet that story
is neither defended nor denied in the West
where it originated, it being the business
out there to send forth their stories like
some birds do their young, leaving them
entirely to their fate.
A late specimen of the unique order OF
stories was that of gaul.busting" tight
ON the Missouri, high up-very high up
An old hunter, aged sixty-two, sitting in his
canoe, was fired upon by three young hun
tiers sitting in their dug-out, some hundred
yards or so distant. The first fire broke the
old mans left arm. He returned the fire,
and laid out one Of his assailants, the
remaining two keeping up the attack. The
old fellow reloaded with his one hand.
aided by his teeth, and repeated as fast as
he could, until he killed all three of his as
sailants. He was found in the canoe, weak
from loss of blood, with seven bullets in his
body. The wonderful old man thus bal
lasted with lead was taken to the nearest
house. and received medical aid as soon as
possible. The doctor gave it as his opinion
that he might recover!
Now, the suspense concerning that heroic
old man must be intense, and If there is any
humane consideration for mankind high up
on the Missouri, the people there will let
the world know how the old man is, and II
dead whether the bullets were "eXtracted,"
and had be decent burial?
And yet another which has been "some
DAYS out,' comes to us in this condensed
form in the Tribune:
GA party of gamblers sat down to small
game of euchre on election day on the Inn.
bragcous bank Of Kansas creek. The
sport Went on peacefully for while, until
one of the gentlemen was discovered max
ing use of that ignorance of the game which
proved 80 exasperating to William Nye anu
James Truthful in famous passage on Ia
bic Mountain. The ordeal by battle was
decided upon for settlement Of the points
at issue. Two combatants fought duel on
horseback, in which they dlssected each
other like Jealous young surgeons, anu Their
horses, catching the chivalrous infection,
| bit and tore each others necks and cheeks
into shreds. When the fight and one Of the
gamblers were finished, the survivor was
promptly shot by spectator, who had
| prohably bet on a different result. and the
| fighting became general. The whole party
was soon stretched out on the autumnal
heritage, when, unfortunately, phyician
| Or. Lawrence, who tells the story,l passed
that way and rendered professional assist
ance, and it is feared some Of the gamblers
may recover"