Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-07-20

books will bear witness, if they have been pre-
served till this day, which is very doubtful, for
l saw nothing about the establishment that
could withstand the consuming power of time
and carelessueSS another twelvemonth.
The forenoon of our second and last day
there, we used up by listlessly loungiDg about
the levee watching two small river steamers
which we learned were TO start for Cincinnati
at nightfall, or as soon as the cargo of nails
could be got on the lower deck, from a pile on
the cobble stones with which the levee is paved.
The more we looked, the more we wanted TO be
passengers ON one of those boats, and at last the
determination led me to leave my friend and
seek out the editor of the paper whose office we
had visited the night before. Il was selected
for this office because | was the youngest
and the most devoid of modesty at that time.)
| found him. and found in him a gentleman
with a large heart in the right place. will not
connect his name with this rambling, desultory
account of our two days in Wheeling, but will
say for him that he was the kindest hearted and
by far the most courteous man met from one
end of the Ohio to the other. l told him how
| was situated and what wanted, appealing 10
magic word TO the captain of one of the boats
which would give myself and friend passage
down to Cincinnati.
Having arranged the matter, TO our great joy,
our friend, the editor, invited us to walk about
the town with him until the boat started. With
him we visited the manufactures of nailS-the
chief among the industries of the place; the
glass factory and the huge forges in West
Wheeling, which was at that time connected
with Wheeling proper by a fral wire bridge
across Wheeling creek; but this swinging
structure has, l learn, snapped its cable
asunder since then, and whether the grimy
workmen wade or swim in going back and forth
now know not. We visited the famous Tur-
key rock, where in Indian times the willy savage
fooled so many soldiers by his turkey calls, and
then was the death of them; gazed at the chasm
where the revolutionary hero twhose name l
fail TO remember,) jumped his horse across, and
| passed his name down 10 posterity loaded with
all the credit, while the gallant and springy
steed died and left no name on record, which
latter is a necessity with the modern horse.
Probably neither of Bonner's horses could
make the jump.
The hills-or mountains-back of Wheeling,
which seem to crowd the little city hard upon
the bank of the Ohio, are steep and irregular,
and abound in coal. The roads which wind
down into the city would probably be consid-
cred good among the Andes, but seemed to me
to be very poor for the United States. The
mlkmen, toiling down in the morning, bring
their commodity in funny little wagons-a sort
of cross between an Ox-cart and a doctors gig,
with brake on The wheels to prevent it from
running over the skinny horse or mule whose
task it is to stagger down the mountain with a
| few quarts every day
When evening came on, we picked our way
over the steep stretch of cobbe stones to the
edge of the river, which was very low at that
time, and went on beard the boat which was to
work our deliverance from that rickety strip of
a city. Our feelings for several hours were
akin TO happiness. Our pockets were crammed
with stogas, from the liberal and oily hands of
our tavern friend who slept with the landlord
youngest boy and turned out his own drinks in
side the bar He came down TO say goodbye
and send a message to some printer who, he
! said, was either iu Cairo, Memphis, Jackson or
some other place. The message, as near as !
can recolect, was in regard to an old coat and
a union card with back dues, which had been
left at John Balls on the eve of sudden dsap-
pearance peculiar to a certain kind of migratory
| typos
But TO return to that feeling of happiness. 1t
was transient. 1t was tieeting, like all happi-
ness based on worldly sources, if not more so
than most. That steamboat cap'n was not a
dear, delightful man. He was as far from being
man of that description as Wheeling is from
| Cincinnati; and every hour of that tedious ride
served to intensity our dislike for him. But he
was captain of that boat Nobody doubted that
after the first half mile. We felt the misfortune
of that circumstance when supper time came;
for, instead Of doing the gentemanly thing by
us, as he had assured our noble friend at Wheel
ing he would, he developed his unftness for the
captaincy of that miserable little stern-wheeer
By informing us that if we considered ourselves
booked for a cabin passage and board, we were
mistaken. Our happiness vanished and our
hearts sank. We wanted to sink the cap'n, but
the river didn't look deep enough TO drown so
mean man, therefore we stammered out some
thing about the expectations his cordial man
ner on the wharf gave rise to, coldly thanked
him for the privilege Of riding on the old hulk,
and went below to cogitate. The wind was cold
and raw, but we found pile of oats in bags
near the boiler, and established ourselves
thereon, turning around at stated intervals
like goose roasting at an old-fashioned fire
place, and feeling like geese freezing on an Ohio
steamboat.
Our combined capital amounted to lorty-fiye
cents, and on this we built our hopes of living
until we reached our destination. That twenty
four hours between Wheeling and Parkersburg,
making forty-eight without mouthful of any
thing to eat, was a time of hunger and heavy
heartedness; but when the boat rubbed its nose
against the rotten planks of Parkersburg lcvee
we shuffled off the boat, too thin to crowd any
body in the least on the gang-plank, and judi
ciousy spent that forty-ive cents at a Dutch
bakery. We bought dried beef and crackers
Herewith, the beef being a tough wedge shaped
chunk, cut from the upper end, and containing
the string-hole by which the original piece had
been hung to dry. Anybody who understands
dried beef, knows that such piece is tough
eHOuGh ioI DOol-ldpSJ anu VIII readily guess
why left front tooth in the Ohio river
While the stumpy little baker was putting
paper around the crackers, we stood by the door
eating pieces which we picked out of half bar
rel, too hungry to wait for our feast on the boat
This purchase revived our spirits, and we shy-
cred and laughed at our luck the rest of the
way. My friend was good singer, and recol-
lect well how strangely sweet his fayorite song
It's year since last we met" sounded on
the night air. as | stood on the projection near
the drowsily spashing wheel and watched the
bright fires Of the lime burners up among the
hills on the Ohio side. He was thinking about
dear little wife up in Connecticut, for whose
welfare he was seeking land of higher prices,
and was thinking that if ever found myself
in paying situation again, | would buy an
overcoat. p. KEwLYER.
A CLEVER DOCToR.-Dr. Cabarus, who died
at Paris last year, was one Of those jovial phy-
sicians whose presence Is equally sought in the
sick-room as in society, and who effect more
with humor and pleasantly than by medicine.
Being Il brOtlcr-iu-laW of Ueggpn fhp cplabra tod