Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-03-24
GRINDING THE FACES OF
THE POOR.
Slow Progress of tho Pension. Pay
ments-A System OF ExtOrtiOns.

StONf RrO8rCAS Oh INC RcnSlGn. ray
mcnts-A System OF ExtOrtiOnS.
Payment of pensions 10 widows of sol
diers killed during the war, begun on the
4th inst. in a basement-room of the Gus
tomhouse, is still daily continued under
the direction of Gen. Lawrence, Pen
sion Agent. Thus far, about $500 have
been paid from the list of 5000 whom
Gen. Lawrence has TO pay. At the
present rate of progress it will take about
two weeks longer to get through the list.
Too frequent description has been given
of the poverty stricken appearance of the
widows and mothers who put in their
semi-annual appearance here for the pen
sions allowed them by the Government
on account of husbands and SONS killed in
the late war, to render further description
necessary. Indebtedness and poverty,
and their most rugged, most woe-begone
and most pitiful phases, stare one in the
face, and stony hard is the heart that is
not moved at the spectacle.
Paying the pensioners is not TO be char
acterized as an act of humanity by the
Government. 1t is an act of duty, and
most pitiful is the amount paid. And
this is not all. The most unjust extortions,
though made legal by Congressional en-
actment accompany the payment. Every
widow has to pay seventy cents, or rather
this sum is deducted from the amount due
her before she cLn get her pension. In
the first place twenty-five cents are ex-
acted for making out the papers,
and then fifteen cents each for
three oaths respectively of two
witnesses, and the one to whom the pen
sion is to be paid. One woman came
there yesterday from Forty second street.
She was told that she must bring two wit
nesses to swear that she has not remarked
since her husbands death, on whose ac-
count the pension was claimed. 1t was
new arrangement, and the first she had
heard of it. The result was that she had
to hunt up her witnesses and p2y two car
fares each for them, besides her
own riding, altogether putting her
to an outlay of $1.f2 before
she got her pension. AS may be imagin-
ed, there is a good deal of com
plant. 1t is alleged that the whole sys-
ten of paying these pensions is wrong
that it is a system devised to be greatly
beneficial pecuniarily to the pension
agents at the expense of the pensioners,
who can i'll afford such exactiOns; that it
is system, in short, disgraceful TO the
Government, and poor requital to the
widows of those who periodically sacri-
feed their lives on the field of bloody
battle for their country's sake. 1t will be
understood that the fault is not that of
the pension agent lie has the law on
his side, and only enforces its require
ments. Tle fault lies with Congress,
which made the law-NeU York Herald
WILD SPORTS IN FLORIDA.
A Maine man describes an encounter
with catamount in Florida. He writes
from Jasper, Hamilton county: 81 went
to pond one mile and a half from home,
and caught a fine mess of fish. AS was
leaving for home, heard something
walking on the leaves behind me.
turned, and saw large catamount within
seven feet of me, and before l could get
fairly on my feet (for was sitting DOWN
he sprang on top of my head and cut a
large cash in my under lip with his teeth,
and scratched my eye with his claw, so
that could not see. l got my knife from
my pocket, and dropped it before 1 could
open it. l soon found he was getting the
best of the fight, and l jumped into the
pond. He then let go of my lip and caught
me on the head. l turned over on my
face, and he let go of my head and bit me
on the neck. put my head under water
and he let go of me. held my head un-
der water as long as l could and live, ex-
pecting when l rose he would attack me
again, but he was gone. l washed nv
eyes and got one of them so l could see,
took large stick and started for home
without molestation. Men started with
guns and dogs, and killed him within a
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