Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1871-06-08

that All Sam loved maiden coun-
trywoman at Chinese Camp; that
this countrywoman had been forci-
bly, torn from him by villains, and
was supposed to be in durance at
jamestown. Would l help All
Sam recover his stolen bride? |
would. The Owls were sum-
moned together. 1t was one func-
tion of this association to see that
justice was done, though the heav-
ems tumbled. / stated, also, the
case to Lawyer c.; and he, with
out my knowledge, contracted with
All Sam to restore him his missing
bride for thirty pieces of silver. We
hunted half the night through the
Chinese quarter, and found the
maiden slowed away in a hen coop.
We rescued her, bore her to Lawyer
C-'s office, locked her in, and went
in quest of the groom. He was at
last found, stupefied with opium,
and indisposed just then for matri-
mony. But lawyer c. was an
ornament to his profession: he was
full of fire and energy; he had pre-
destinated that couple to be married
that night. All Sam was borne to
his bride at two o'clock in the
morning. Wherever a candle could
find foothold in Lawyer C-'s Of
flee, one was placed and lighted.
The ceremony was performed, as
the Oriental couple were informed,
in the American fashion; the ''Owr'
in full regalia, and headed by two
Virginia fiddlers-to whom drawing
the bow came as natural as drawing
a bead on a buck-marched around
the couple several hundred times,
marched them all the airs that ever
were tiddled ON American soil; and
finally they were legally united by
the Justice of the Peace, and the
ceremony terminated in wrangle
between the Lawyer and Justice in
the matter of fees; C paying
the expenses of the ceremony, as he
had contracted to find, deliver, and
marry the bride All Sam for the
round sum of $50.
Any one may see from this sketch
the difficulties attendant on a peda-
gogical career at that time in James
town. Icould not afford to lose my
share of participation in these stir
ring scenes. Yet it was hard to carry
such a load, and at the same time
train the young idea to shoot. The
soberer people frowned, and said that
the schooi-master should conduct
himself with more decorum, even if
it were in California.
The office of the teacher is a noble
one, and the recital of any juvenile
brain grinders story should be given
free from these follies. But for
jamestown and a jamestown school
master, this is quite impossible. For
the hot, little church was only two
hundred yards from the Bella Union
Saloon, and the school, the school
master, the "Owls' (many of the
"Owl' having owlets under my tut
tion J, pistols, knives, fun, and fights
were at that time so mixed up that it
is impossible to eXtricate them sepa- |
rately from the tangled wed of my
recollection. 1 surged through this
sea of pedagogical troubles for two
wears. | could have held the post |
longer. The "Owls'' controlled the
election for School Trustees, and al
ways in my time appointed ''Owls"
for such positions, who of course
sawthat none other than an "Owls"
became school-master. But felt my
health giving way under the strain.
And poor Peter went away. He
went the long, invisible journey, and
there were many serious days in
He was kind, gentle,
easy, and droll; and in the bitterest
period of the Rebellion, when James
town was angrily fermenting and
with its opposed Northern
and Southern cliques, Peters News
office became the neutral ground for
either party. The tender spot in the
hearts of that wild, reckless crew
was touched, and all were mourners
who saw Peter laid away in a grave
dug in the rock of the red hill side.
For eight years the grass over it has
grown and withered; the hillock is
sunken and almost effaced; there is
no carved stone;-but in one heart
there is green spot, ever sacred, ev-
er fresh; there, the tender buds of
and association often
blossom for my old partner, Petet-
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