Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1871-1872, 1872-09-06
THE LIE NARD LETTERS.

regard to the weather; and well does the
adjective suit the clear beautiful days with
their temperature toned down 20 the comfort
point; and the cool nights which provs to
ones entire satisfaction that quilts and blan-
kets are not altogether the useless articles
one thought them . week ago. Yes, OLD
Probabilities has rspentsd of his extreme
measures, and promises better things for
the future and we bless him accordingly,
and even venture near his den where, sccor-
ding to Uncle Ben's opinion, the weather
for Brother Jonathan's farm is manufsctur
ed. That estimsble colored individual was
standing at the corner OF G. and l7th St.
lost In profound meditation on the subject
OF withdrawing in general and the rain,
which had utterly demoralized his virtuous
couch the previous night, In particular
Any question concerning the whereabouts
of the Signal Office was answered with Do
ye see them whirligigs thar on top of that
house? that's the place. An please, Miss,
tell en- not to make it rain so hard agin as
las night" Well, I promised, and then
looked for the "whirligigs ;" and, sure
enough, it did look as if 9 deputation of
pAwnbroker's balls, and weathercooks of all
conceivable shapes were holding high car
nival up there they turned and twisted in
the most festive manner, and four of the
balls had formed set in full motion,
ready upon a moments notice to dance to
their partners or q change in the air. No
wonder poor Ben looked upon them In silent
awe, as charms which influence the weather.
and make havoc generally.
Gen. Meyer, the chief of the bureau, is
enlArgingit continually and as the signals
have done good service already in prevent
ing lose of life and property, he meets with
a goodly amount of encouragement. In the
building on G. St. only his regular clerks
are employed the preparatory school ia at
Fl. Whipple, 10 Virgins where the students
are sent, after passing satisfactory examin-
alton at the Office. Ny business compelling
me to wait, played audience to an exam
ination by Col. Mallory. The aspiring
youths had 8 tolersble easy time while
Geography and Orthography were on the
tapis; true, they slipped once in a while,
bura~hen Arithmetic in the shape of Deci-
NAL Fractions came up, then "~hat q fall
was there my countrymeB.' Now, Deci-
NAL Fractions is what they were expected
to be particularly strong in, aud deficiency
in that direction made some of them inelig-
ible at once. The fortunate ones, after pas
sing physical examination, left for Fit.
Whipple, full of the idea that they were
very much to be envied indeed and rather
clever fsllers after all four weeks after
met two, who had broken guard and came
to spend the evening in the city, and oh
what tale they did unfold Regular army
. rations, poor quarters, military drill and
rules, an ovsrbearing officer no convs-
nienee and the treatment accorded all other
private soldiers, whom our nation certainly
does not delight to honor; those
were the pegs they hing their
complaints on, and sufficiently large
they we're, I'm sure. The studies pur-
sued are MeteorOlogy and some works pub
, lished for the exclusive use of the corps,
which contain the signal code, besides full
, Instructions for the use of the apparatus I'm
: ployed. The hills in the vicinity of the fort
furnish convenient stations for practice, and
thus, generally within three months, the
anxious student developes into the full
/ tiedged sigual officer, and is sent to some
t station or other TO distinguish or extinguish
: himself, as the case may be.
| have told you Of the tumble the Beard
, of Public Works and R. K. Co. are in; well,
{ on the Oath uls. it reached its climax by the
, Board tearing up the car track near the
!, Capitol, which act compelled all the inhsbi-
. taDts OF the eastern portion Of the city to
foot it, and caused grumbling without end
q and not q little of downright swearing.
: Judge Humphreys decided the case On the
2 30th against the Board, and now there Is
. hope that the track will he relaid and the
. agony come to an end soon. There is q
rival company, the Metropolitan, which ia
extending its route also to the navy yard
. and when one takes into consideration that
' the head of the Board is the principal
: stakeholder in it, his enmity to the other line
. is easily understood. The 81 900 600 ap-
propriated for Improvements have been ex-
] pended by the Board in tearing mp most OF
8 the streets and making them impossible
;. double that amount will not be sufficient to
, make things straight, and against all lhil
there is no check, as they seem 10 have IN.
a limited power. The joke of it lies in the
Q fact that all our papers with the exception
b of the Patriot, (the Greeley paper,) in the
:, most solemn manner imaginable assert that
the people sanction the actions Of theil
8 despollers, yea, fairly bless them with tear
in their eyes and neither of them will evel
4 print complaint or murmnr from any OF
q the sufferers be it it ever so zephyrlike
= Isn't that hightoped journalism?
4 To stop complaining I'll tell you wha
q nice excursions we have down the Potomac
i to the Bay and yet-well, the Republican
State Committee do play the deuce will
= that pleasure by keeping our friends owe
II their musty documents There had VT
: made up party of congenial spirits to hav'
e q good time, and at the appointed hour the!
"were mott When taxed with their defec
q ton, the insarisbe excuse Was "Ws'ye beer
l. working like beavers at the Capitol ever
e night; we mean 10 carry Pennsy lvanis, auC
!, must work hard" Now all that is RICH
II enough, suppose; but its decidedly IN
pleasant, and we don't love that Committee
I. know.
q One of the gentlemen, while tishlOg in thu
h Bay for crabs, thought he would try q ne'
v method, and accordingly "bobbed" for then
i with his head, his feet meanwhile making
1t Odd Fellow signs in the air some of tn
!, ladies', not understanding them, screamed
:, for al explanation, whereupon the gentle
interfered with his experiment and dre'
b 49, mt He was TOO disguised to speak 70
+ some time. snd persistenuy refuses to teI
u wh.t he knows about ''bObbihg"- for crabs
: Tomorrow the Potomac Boat Club
e have a grand promenade concert at Analos
: : tan Island; if I'm there to see, l shall te
you call abont it." LE NAKp.