The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1871-09-05
We COMMITTEE.


may sing out to himself, as he dives
under the covers, the CHEEKY song "All )
WE'LL" On the night ofwhich we spea k
he wendell as usual his solitary way.
A noise. He shudders, trembles, and
draws his white hat further over his
ears It's but "the early village cock
doing his salutation to the morn" Re
assured, he advances. Another noise {!
He starts; his white hat rises from his
head and rests upon the ends Of his
bristling hair. He leaps into the
shadow of a telegraph pole. lis but
the meandering phalanx Of the City
Fathers, who, unsteady from too much
gas, have wandered out OF their way
and are singing the Meeting OF the
Waters" to realize the dream OF the
poet, that
"The night shall be filed with music,
And the cares which infest the day
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs
And az silently steal away.
The Grand Warden proceeds. He
nears q superannuated locomotive
Stealthy figures move around it. He
cautiously advances, turks in neigh
boring shade, and peers forth. de sees
the forms of three men, who seem to be
going through the agonies Of Cherokee
war dance around the locomotive. They
stop and draw slowly and mysteriously
together. One holds ghost.like
thumb TO his nose, waves his fingers
with ian-like motion, and in sepnl-
chral voice says:
"When shall we three meet again,
In thunder, lightning, or on the train:
They separate. One climbs to the top
of the siuoke-stack and looks intently
into its black abysm. Another falls to
the earnest contemplation Of a spike,
while the third draws forth from his
pocket some mysterious documents and
studies by the wierd, fantastic glimmer
of tallow candle. Can it be| said
our spectator to himself. 'But no! it
couldn't be the Railroad committee.
They would not be so dishonorable as
to seek at our own works knowledge
whereby to subyert us" and he rushed
forward with a yell. Terror seized
upon the doughty trio. One made a
skyrocket OF his candle, dropped his
papers and fled. Another abandoned
his spike to the tender mercy Of the
foe. The third was so startled by the
noise that he fell headlong into the
chimney. He scrambled out hastily,
however, and verify stayed not for his
coat. As his blackened figure passed
out Of sight, the master of the
field reflected that though SCOT
under circumstances might point a
moral" it surely did not serve to "adorn
a tale" He investigated the spoils.
The papers were Hempfeld mortgage
bonds. The coat was a tallless
linen jacket, on which lay brown
cloth cap. Affixed to the engine was a
powerful microscope, evidently designed
for the inspection of particulars. In
the pocket OF the coat were three pa
pers, the first of which read as follows
"Sir, am lawyer, (see Int. Revenue
report) a resident Census 1870 ~of the
beautiful town of Wheeling (MitchelIs
Geography. hnv~ come on ,h- part
Of my fellow townsmen to say that you
have astounded us by the scope of your
genius. The steam engine is grand
and beautiful machine (see picture on
back Of Lib. ed. of Redfeld on Rail-
ways). The power. of steam is immense.
(Silliman's Mechanics). So is that Of
capital. (Greeley on Political Econo-
my. We leel that you will combine
steam with good will, that you will
make magnificent oleo OF rails and
engines and cars and steam and capital
and kindness, and feed our young State
upon it till she flourishes like the Bay
tree" The second was thus "Sir, as
each cycle of the worlds age is COM
pleted, the science OF national and mu-
nicipal economy expands. To the
study of that science | have devoted
my life. | have just returned from a
polemical contest with the President Of
the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, in
which he said to me, Sir, in diplomacy
must acknowledge you my superior.
Through my agency he was compelled
to take steps by means of which travel
from our town would cease, lest, as he
said, my fellow.citizens should run the
risk of being cruelty massacred by COL
lisions. Sir, a great financial crisis is
at hand, which you can take advantage
Of by building a railroad to our town.
Then we will say with joy, and with
Shakespeare,
Now Is the winter of our discomfort
Made glorious summer by this son OF Phil
adelphia.'
| will now read you an account OF the
funding of the Hempfeld debt into
irredeemable bonds" The third, "Sir,
am neither one nor the other. All |
know is that don't know anything,
least Of all, why was sent. All l can
say on the subject Of railroads is that l
have nothing to say, except that don't
care, l won't care, and never did care.
As was said by the celebrated Daniel
Rice, Esq:
Let tomorrow take care of tomorrow,
Leave the things OF the future to fate.
What's the use TO anticipate sorrow?
LIES troubles come never too late"
The owners of these articles may
have the same by proving property and
paying the expense OF keeping the
Eighty speeches securely tied down.
"RIP."