Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1872-01-09
A Shameful Scene.

| ~ ofk kGommefcial Advertiser: :. a husband, -
says that paper, .sued for divorce ON the
ground of the adultery of his wife. The
case was referred. and the referee in the de-
fault of the appearances of the wife, reported
in favor of the husband s application. The
Court confirmed the re port and the child the
only issue of the marriage, a boy over seven
years of age, was brought before Judge Gil.
bert on writ of habeas corpus he mother
IN whose care he had beenS ever since thesep.
saration of his parent. which took place
when he was but seighteen months old, D acs
scompanied him. The judge told the child
E he must go with his father. ThereuponS the
poor little fellow set up the most spiteous cries
and selung to his mothers side, declaring that
he would never leave her. One Of the Off
GERS sought to seize him, but he ran from.
him about the court room, screaming in the.
most hcart>rendering manner, the mother
nwhile ploring the judge to spare her
and her son the horrors of suchsa separation.
{ Nothing, however, availed, and the swretshed,
little victim was finally captured and borne
from the presenceso of the ympath hisipg spec
stators uttering the most piercing shneks,
while the agonized mot her fe II fain ting to the
floor.
The ENp OF a syAsrsp 5 j sLrrE.-Last
Sabbath, says the w WheeIipg Iatell,yeaeer of
the l4th, man named III enry sSmith, aged
q about seventy years, died from ex posure to
colo, insS Sand a u. Township, Marshall county:
3 His history is strange aud interesting, and
7 SHOWS that man can live in state of nature
as well as the beast of tile field For more
than twenty years he liyedein the open air,
without roof TO shelter him from the storm.
He was a man of weak mind, and possessed
sa violent and ungovernable temper About
. a aityhf ,vhs
in this city. he quarrelled with man named
Joseph Neyet, aud during the afray stabbed
him. 'Fhe wound proved fatal, and for the
crime ofmurder Smith was sentenced to the
Penitentiary for sixteen years. CAtthe close
OF his term of confinement he desired to re-
main in prison, but his request was refused
For many years lie remained at the root of
fallen tree, and subslsted on the provisions
that were given him by the charitable. When
hungry he greedily devoured raw meat and
uncooked vegetables. When clothing was
given. to him he tore it into fragments prefer
ing, to be clothed in filthy ragsrather than in
clean and decentapparel. He had sunk even
below the level Of the 3brutes. Two years
ago his neighbors built him a comfortable hut
but in a short time he had used it for fuel.
Afterwards he lived in an open field, without
any protection from the incemency of the
weather. During;the severe cold of lastweek,
2he was found lying. in heap of ashes, with
feet aud hands frozen. He fingered few
.days3in great misery until death came 10 his
relief and ended his suffernss
"A CLERaYMAN's HoARDrLA Methodist
clergy man named Hammond lately died in
fCharlestown, Indiana, sged upwards lof, so.
years. For many years his salary had BEEN
from $500 to 5000 year His family knew
that he had some iittesreal estate which they.
understood had appreciated in value. The
surprise of all parties may be imagined when
Mr. Hammond executor found money, bonds
and title deeds to9re.l estate valued in all at
over $3.50 600. Upwards of $4,000 in coin
was found in a 5cobweb covered. trurk which
was slowed away in an unused garret at the
time Of John Morgan's raid in the neighbor-
hood. This wealth is snpposed;to have been
the result OF slow accumulation and the ad
vance IN the value of real property, though
its amount is looked upon as almost unac.
couDtabe.
The. YEARS. DEAp.--O the me n and wo
men. .distlnguishedinthe rank s;ot science, art,
literature and publicslife, who have passed
away during the year, there are not a few
whose names rscnr at this time. Science has
lost the inestimable Services of Herschell.
Murchison, 4Becqurel, Babbage, and De Nor
gan the names of the Cary sisters, Truckers
man, Grote, Gervinus, Dumas, Kohl. aud De
9 asParin are In the list sof popular authors
w hom the year has taken Won Hess and
Ahgny have disappeared, from among the
artists; Prim, Omer Pasha aud Schamy u are
gone from the ranks of the great leaders
Scribner, Bentley, and Robert Chambers
have departed from among the celebrated
publishers of America and England Coyode,
Ewing, Vallandisham, Slidelland Mason, are
among the distinguished Americans who have
died: aud musical and dramatic art mourns
the loss of Auber. Mercadante, Thalberg,
Sanderson, Ansehutzland Delsarte.
HIsowN NGRANDFATHER Sometime since
it was announced that a man at Titusvil1e,
Pennsylvania, commilted suicide for the rea-
son that he had discovered that he was his
owngrandfather. Leaving a dying statement
explaining hissingular circumstances, we will
not attempt to unrayels 1T, but give his own
explanation of the mixed up condition of his
kinstolk in his own words. He says:
4 married a widow who had a grown up
daughter. Nj ) tathersvisited our house very
zoften, fell inIove with my step daughter aud
married her. So my father became my SON..
inslaw, and my step daughter my mother be-
cause she my fathers wife. Sometime af.
terward my wife had a son ]; he was my fathers
brother>in>lawa and my uncle, ,sfor he was the
brother of my step mother. My fathers wife,
that5is my step daughter, had also a son; he
was of course, my brother, aud IN the means
time my grand child, for he was the son of my
daughter. M wife was my grandmother be-
cause she was my fathers mother was my
wife's husband and grand child at the same
time; and as the husband of PERSONS grand.
mother is his grandfather, was my own
grandfather"
That this was a strange condition of things
it must be confessed, but we can see no possi>
BILE reason why it should cause aman to CON.
init suicide. .s@zssssssss5i.. q -, 2
!. .tsWefl. Sambo. what's yer ND to NOW