Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1872-12-28

We owe TO Pike tho only poetl-
cal picture of one Of those deop,
mild, silent sunsets OF the South
wost.
Eastward you can trace
No stain, no spot Of cloud upon sky
Pure as an angels brow; :,
The winds have folded up their quick
wings now
And all asleep high up within ''Oad-'r"-
dies lie. ..
Beneath rthe trees, the dark and massy
glooms
Are growing deeper, more material
In windloss solitude: the flower blooms
Thickly exbale their thin and unseen
plumes
OF odor. which they gave not at the call
OF the hot sun the birds all sleep within
The shaken nests-all but tho owl who
booms ....
Far off his cry, like one that mourns
strange dooms, .r,
And the wishtonish with lonely din.
There is deep, calm beauty all around,
A massive, heavy, melancholy look,
A unison of lonesome sight and sound,
Which touches us till we can only brook
Our own sad feelings here;
II can not wiring from out the heart
tear.
But gives us heavy hearts, like reading
some sad book.
A SOUTHWEST HUMoRIsT.
made some inquiries at Little
Rock about character OF whom
had read this description in an
Arkansas household book:
Every reader of the Spirit OF tho
Times says the description, must
have occasionally laughed over
certain highly humorous pieces that
have from time to time often ap-
peared in the paper, over the sig
nature of pete Wetstone, OF The
! Devils Fork The author of the
aforesaid exquisite wit is Kent 10.
land, of Batesville, Ark, in every
| way one Of the most remarkable
| m en- in the West; for such is the
versatility of his genius that he
seems equally adapted to every
species of effort, intellectual or
physical. With a like unerring
aim, he shoots q bullet or bon
mot; and wields the pen or the
bowie-knife with the same thought
swift rapidity of motion and enor-
getic fury of manner. Sunday nc
will write an eloquent dissertation
on relioion. Monday, he rawhides
a rogue; Tuesday, he composes a
sonnet, set in silver stars and
breathing perfume Of roses, to some
fair maids eyebrows; Wednesday,
he fights duel, sends bit OF lead
whizzing through the head or heart
of some luckless desperado; Thurs
day, he does up brown the person
al character and political conduct
of Senators Sewer and Ashley /;
Friday, he goes to the ball, dressed
in the most finical superfuity OF
the fashion, and shines the soul OF
wit and the sun of merry badinage
among all the gay gentlemen, and
the king supreme of all tender
hearts among the ladies. And, to
close the triumphs of the week, on
Saturday night he is off thirty
miles to country dance in the
Ozark Mountains, where they "trip
it on the light fantastic toe in the
famous jig of "double shuttle
around a roaring log-heap fire in
the woods, all night long, to the
tuno of "The Buffalo Bull Came
Down the Mountains-Long Time
Ago" And thus is glorious Kent
entitled to the praise Of universal
versatility-a myriad-minded Pro-
tcus of contradictory characters,
many-hued as chameleon, fed on
dews, and sucked at the breast OF
a rainbow"
The prose of the matter seemed
to be, that Toland came to Arkan.
sas Territory at the age of Is, and
Joined the Whig side under Robert
Crittenden, brother Of John j..
Crittenden. Politics ran high,
close and hasty; and Toland wrote,
sang, and spoke so well, and was
yet so young, blonde, and slender,
that it was thought the ordinary
challenge and posting would scare
him out of the way. The nephew
of Gov. Pope, the Democratic lead
er challenged him-a fine, trained /,
black-eyed duclist. They fought
at twelve PAGES, above Little Rock,
on the banks of the Arkansas, and,
at the first fire, Toland's ball passed
through Pope's liver. That shot
killed the one man, and made the
other desperate and frivolous
fellow by turns, with spells OF
gloom and unhappiness between
the sensitive duelist's fato. He was
ready to pick quarrels, and he
wore q knife and pistols, and shot
ION sight and in public places. He
went to the Legislature several
times as o member, but never had
any influence there; for the man
who is always sensitive about his
courage misses his career.
THE FIRST BBooDsHED AT LITTLE
ROCK.
An account of the first great Ar.
kansas duel was published in No.
abs Weekly Register. 1t happened
| in 1880. Robert Crittenden, who
was Wing, canvassed the Terri
tory against Conway, Democrat. In
the crude state of Arkansas society
it was felt that on the result Of the
experiment depended for genera
tion to come the political complex.
ion of the State. The two oppo-
nents avoided each other, making
different circuits, but the wolfsh
people demanded a debate, and il
was finally appointed for Little
Rick. The time was summer, the
spot a pine. grove. Before this
time the partisans Of the contest
ants had made the CAMPAIGN ipfa-