Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1870-08-29


of their chiefs or medicine men. This custom
is based on the supposition that in their spirit
land the services OF such slaves are necessary
to the comfort and we'll being Of the departed !;
aud to avoid the trouble of employing such in
that happy hunting ground they dispatch one
of his human chattels at the same moment
the spirit of the warrior chief takes it upward
flight. An instance of this occurred here
three weeks ago. About ten o'clock at night
the sentinel on the palisade gate, leading to
lndiantown. was attracted by the wailing cry
Of squaw. Inquiring the cause of her dis
treSs, she gave him to understand that herison
was then tied up, preparatory to being stab.
bcd-the usual mode of dispatching them-for
The purpose above mentioned.
The commandant of the post was notified,
and an officer was sent to rescue the intended
victim Of such barbarity. On the officers ar.
rival a strange sight presented ITSELF On q
bed lay the dying chief an intelligent looking
boy Of ten or twelve years of age, bound hand
and foot, looked the incarnation Of despair
around him, with drawn knives. stood the rel
atives Of the dying man, at whose signal they
would be buried in the vtals of the trembling
youth. The sombre gloom of the apartment,
lit up itlully by the smouldering fire; the wild,
uncar;hly sound of the tn-tip, and waing
death-cry o! the tribe outside the house,
made up picture to be appreciated only by
witness of the scene. The officer Immediately
released tho boy and brought him to the gar
rison, where he was kept until the family OF
the departed warrior promised not to modest
him in future. This has been the second in
stance of the kind occurring here since our oc
cnpation OF the territory. y.-SiMu Cor. San
Francisco Bulletin.
DAMASCUS, THE ETERNAL.-Damascus dates
rho OlHnst nlt in tho world lt
was oupdcd by Uz, the grandson OF Noah
"Thc early history of Damascus is shroudcd
10 the hoary mists OF antiquity
Leave the matters written OF IN the eleventh
chapter, Of the Old Testament out, and no
recorded event has occurred in the world, but
Damascus was in existence to receive It. 20
back as tar as you will into the vague past,
here was always Damascus.
In the writiog Of every century, Tor more
than four thousand years. its name has teen
mentioned and its praise sung. The D.mas.
fitting triaes of time. She measures time not
by days, aud months, and years, but by the
empires she has seen rise and prosper, and
crumble TO ruin. She is type OF immortality:
She saw the foundations of Baabec and
Thebcs and EDhesus laid saw them grow IN
to mighty cities aud amaze the world with
their grandeur-and she has lived to see them
desoate, deserted, and given up to owls and
bats. She saw the IsraeIitish empire exalted,
and she saw it annhilated. She saw Greece
rise and flourish for TWO thousand years, and
die. In her old age she saw Rome built; she
saw it overshadow the world with its power
she saw it perish.
The few hundred Of years of Genoese and
Venetian might and spleudor were, to grave
old Damascus, only trifing scintilation, hard.
10 uortb rop,omhariro Damascus has seen
all that has occurred on earth. and still she
lives. She has looked upon the dry bones OF
a thousand empires, and she will see tombs OF
thousand more before she dies Old Damas.
Gus is by right the Eternal City.-Boston In
restigator.
FIVE YOUNG MEN STRUCK DEAF IN ONE
NIGHT. We gave publicity to rumor yester-
day morning which we regarded at the time as
nothing more; nevertheless We gave it tor what
it was worth and waited TOR further partlcu
lars Yesterday we learned that the report
was true, and We gathered the following add.
tional facts: Five young men were gathered
together in room OF Helena. Arkansas, one
evening last week. and when they sparated tor
the night were we'll as usual. Next morning
the alarming fact was discovered that they
we're all completely deaf, and most OF them
suffering from heavy pain in the head. NO
relief could be found in Helena, so four OF them
went to New Orleans for treatment. and one
came to Memphis. This latter was Joe Robb,
ayoung man who has lived hero till recently.
He formerly clerked at Mansfield & tlgbee's
drug store, and previous to that time clcrked
for Gilbert & Higbee Heis we'll known here,
and meeting an acquaintance yesterday he was
accostcd. when he drew forth pencil and
wrote II cannot hear word you say, | bave
been struck deaf" Various copjectures have
been made as to the cause of this singular &C.
currcnce; some ascribe it to a direct visitation
of Providence; others, OF superstiiouS minds,
to some subtitle Influence, not of God nor yet or
man; while some seek to find q scientific cause
in the condition Of the weather, or what they
ate and drank on the occasion. .-Nemphts Sun.
OLD AcQUA1NTANCEs.- The Paris telegram
OF the 25ih which stated that "a person who
arrived in Paris at o'clock that night from
Epcrnay, and reported that he heard in that
place OF a Prussian defeat that occurred be.
tween Verdun and ChaIons, &C., &C., recalls
wildly some OF the incidents of our war; 1t
reminds US of that "intclHgent controband'
who gave SO much important intelligence to our
Northern friends, and of that reliable gen
tleman' who brought so much and such agre-
able intelligence to US. Nor is this all. The
''rai1erS' that were constantly lowering around
Richmond have made their appearance 10
France under the uane Of Uh2anS and are INC
mentarily expected in the vicinity OF Paris. -
So at least, says London Telegram of yestcr-
day.-Rich. Wing.
TIE LAHoRING MEN.-It seems strange, as
the New York Express remarks. that labor
congresses and conventions arc never managed
by downright laboripg men, but arc invariably
mes cd ard wire pulled by people " ho never
did days work in shop, or anywhere else
excepting at political primaries and political
caucuSes. The Labor Congress now sitting in
the West have uttered some bold truths: but
they arc plcdging themselves to the support of
very dangerous doctrines, through which
course they will not be likely to benefit their
chief cause.