The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1871-04-07

birds had been Gagged, and requested
that they be turned over to the COM
mander of this department, which
was accordingly done. s
/. The General always took me- along
/ When he visited them at the Burnet
House. I talked to Mrs. L, whife the
General talked to the mother. and
daughter. Now it so happened that
in the Generals younger days Mrs.
L. had been his sweetheart, and never
did / see woman so artfully wrap
a man around he: finger as Mrs. i,
did General -, The result was
that these three female spies went
| scot free. 1t was during these con-
versations that Mrs. L. confessed to
me the part she had taken. I
When the war began she went to
Canada, and there, by some means
btained papers certifying that che
was British subject, She then went
to Washington and obtained the sig
nature of the British Minister, and
then to Mr.. Stanton, aid, on the
strength of her paper, obtained pass
through the Union lines to Richmond.
After transacling her business, she
came West, and approaching the I'm
/ ion lines on the head waters of Big
Sandy, was halted and conveyed to
the headquarters ofa distinguished
Indiana general. She rode in a car
riage, and bad quite retinue CT SER
wants, representing herself 10 be an
English woman suffering from rheum-
atism. The General Commanding,
hoping to bluff her, proposed to send
her to the Surgeon General of the
Department for examination. Moth
inc dauntcd, she thanked him and re-
quested that she should be sent imme-
diately. The Surgeon had her cs.rri-
ed to his office, she effecting much
pain. She removed. her shoes and
stockings. Her feet and ankles were
much swollen (not from rheumatism,
but from walkingj. The learned Sur
geon took up his stethescope and plac-
ed it to her heart. She was more
than a match for him here, for she was
the only person l had ever met with
who could cause her own heart to
palpitate when she chose. The doc
tor listened but a moment, threw
down the instrument and begged her
dardon for doubling her veracity.
She was carried back TO her carriage,
and given a pass and sent northward
rejoicing.
AT another time she had some
dispatches to send sOuthward.
There was a regiment Of soldiers
going up the Kentucky Central
Railroad that day. Dressed as an
Irish servant girl (and she could as
sumo the character to perfection), she
succeeded in getting one of the SOL
diers TO pass her on the train as his.
wife. After the train had started,
the authorities at Cincinnati learned
that she had gone, and suspecting her
errand, telegraphed to Lexington, Civ
ing a description of the woman, and
ordering her arrest, but by some
means no'action was taken until the
next morning. In the meantime the
train had arrived at Lexington. Mrs.
l.. walked two miles in the country,
borrowed q horse, rode twelves miles
further, and meeting 4 lnau Oil the
road whom she knew, gave him her
dispatches, and told him to deliver
them at s. certain rebel generals head
quarters. She then rode back tu
where the horse had been borrowed
and afterward walked to Lexington,
and unmolcsted, took the afternoon
train for Covington. The authorities,
learning that she had gone to the
country Oh her arrival at Lexington,
were in hot pursuit. When they got
into Lexington she was far on her
way. A dispatch was forwarded to
a prominent Covington detective to
arrest her by means on her arrival in
that city. Some friendly station opc-
rator placed copy of this dispatch
great strait. However, she did not
despair. Seeing Leslie Combs, wife
and daughter, sitting few seats
ahead of her in the coach, she
sat down near. them, and soon
drew the ladies into conver-
sation. She told them her hus-
band was soldier, and that she had
induced him to desert, and for this
offense she was to be arrested on her
arrival at CovingtOn. Her pitiful sto
ry, with many tears, enlisted the SYM
pathy of the ladies, and finally the
venerable kentuckian himself. At
that time the rear door of the rear car
of an incoming train was always kept
locked, when arriving at the depot.
Arrangements were made that this
door should not be locked on this oc-
cas:on. When the train arrived Mr..
Combs assisted Mrs. l.. off the rear
platform of the car, while the detect
ives watched the platforms between
the two cars, and Mrs. Combs and her
daughter came near being arrested.
Mrs. l.. having alighted. and seeing
hack standing near, ran to it, and
jumping in, told the driver to carry
her to Newport ferry as quickly as
possible. which he did. There she
alighted, paid him, and crossed over
on the Ferry, walking up the bank.
She entered the Pendleton cars, going
east as far as Kemper Lane. She
walked up to the top of the hill. Here
everything being quiet, she had time
TO pause and reflect. Taking a survey
of the country, and shaping her course,
she at once set out and walked mOre
than a dozen miles to her home, where
she arrived before morning.
Mrs. l.. told me that, when her
mother and sister took passage on the
steamer Glendale, the latter had i'm
portant dispatches concealed in the
barrel of small Smith & Wesson pis-
tol; but no sooner did she find that
hey would be arrested, than sho
walked to the state-room door, fired
off the pistol, and then threw it into
the river.
"What has become of this family CT
precious rebels 2" we asked, for we
had become quite interested in the
story. The doctor replied:
"As soon as the war closed they
packed up bag and baggage and went
to Virginia, where, / suppose, they
are now living. j. IL. IL.
In an article lately published in the
Mobile Register, the figures show that
the production of corn in the South
pays better than it does in the North.