The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-03-13
Quill Scratches.
nv Max Adelcr.

by Max Auelcl.
A.man in Syracuse, says an exchange, finds
himself under the necessity OF writing
lon, letter to newspaper i'll favor OF Mss
mo at church sociablcS. We have never
AIKEN sides in the discussion OF this lnte'
resting and important subject, but we arc
inclined to think that if il became clearly mp
rrrcut that the cause Of public moiallty
would he materially advanced and the EN-
ricncy OF the ecclesiastical system larSeif
increased bv the introduction OF this lnYiSo-
,-,t;uo exercise at sociablcs, VIC would readily
sacrifice whatever personal feeling we nave
IN the matter and favor it: provided thla
,hce is permitted to have rcprcsehIatNt,
present to form an opinion OF the piactlc'l
operation Of the SYSTEM. ,,,
The people of Nashville are amazed at INC
| performance Of boy who plays one tune Oh
| the piano with his left hand, and another
tune with his right, whistles third, ana
beats a bass-druln with his toes. We are
olad that this dcplorsbie tiend lives as Tar
away rs Nashville. If he resided iii our
neirhborhood, profound sense OF duty
would impel us to cram him full of pcrcus-
ion CAPS and then drop him OIL French
roof upon the pavement so as to snap that
prodigy of, as it were. We could not en-,
lure MIN. 1t is bad enough to have one girl
next door fumbling around over Piano I'LL
| he time, trying to jolt oat "The Maldcns
! PRAYER" and another on the other side en-
,ocd in frantic efforts to sing " Beware
| while the infatuated pagan across tie strecl
strains himself at the flute. We would nave
| 10 kill that Nashville boz if he came about.
Certainly the New York Herald Is an eX-
traordinarv newspaper. Upon the occasion
Of the visit of Queen Victoria to st. pauls
cathedral the other day the Hcrdfd not on!y
cave IN account OF the procession, bllt MS
tory of every other procession that ever pre-
| .4.>iici from the time Adam marched our OF
Paradise down to February y, 1872, with
biographical sketches Of all the people who
carried the banners aud wore their sunday
! clothes. We actually believe that If report
| should be received AT the HerdH olilcc lial
The Car of Russia had suddenly been af!llct-
I'd with bald head, that journal would I'M
mcdiately print an account OF all the l'aid
heads that have existed since the Christian
era, with maps and diagrams showing The
method of distributing the remnants OF mar
in each case. and then pretend that the whole
| concern, pictures and all, came over the cable
roma special correspondent stationed some
where in the steppcs Of Tartary. There Is
nothing like enterprise in journalism.
4 Frcnchman named Professor P!anta-
nour informs Us that a gigantic comet Is
RAPIDLY approaching the earth, and will strike
It on the 18Th of August of this year, when
the world will lie consumed. This prophcsv
is confirmed by an egg laid by 4 hen IN DcEt-
ware, and bearing an inscription to the same
general effect. Unless the Professor was i'll
collision with the hen. this remarkable CO.
incidence appears to settle the matter beyond
a question. In view Of the fact, then, that
the contlagration is to take place on the 18th
of August, we cannot be too thankful that
we have paid fire department, and care
ought TO be taken that it Is ut hand, ready for
service when the fire begins. Persons who
feel any interest in the event will find full
report in this paper OH the 18th, with list
of the assurances. We shall publish this
journal in tire-proof safe during the con-
Migration, and as we know that our regular
office will be burned out, we solicit sub>crip-
tons in advance in aid OF the sufferers in this
office. Money sent to our address wiz DC
thankfully received, promptly acknowledged,
and effectively sperit.
twill hardly be believed, and yet another
man actually has written poem about the
Chicago fire, and stretched it out into thirty.
four verses, too. This is the way he begins
uark! what hclish glare is that see upon ths
Is that the aurora borcalis that streams uloft on
No: is the bloody Fire-acnd whose burners dcs'
And lie will lay tile proud town low whose inhabi,
tants the laws OF God and .nan defy
1t will be observed at once that he is pc.
culiar poet. No ordinary man-no mere
prosaic worln-such as the rest OF us are,
could "hearkcn" to "hclish glare" that
we saw upon the sky" and ut the same
time study the extraordinary phenomenon OF
an aurora borcalis that is ";lloft" at the ytrC
same moment that it is "too high" Those
things are permitted only to the gifted and
the great, And no man who was not Of this
kind could have finished OF that last line 50
that it would seem to be- wall of anguish
from a prophetic soul whose longiugs for
justice conflict With its anxiety for mercy.
When we peruSc that concluding line il
seems to us that the poet could not at
first find word that would rhyme with
"descry," and he determined to keep on
writing until one was revealed to him. We
rejoice that he thought Of "defy" rs soon rs
he did. If that word had not come to him
up to this date he might still be writing that
| line, and have succeeded in stretching it Out
to about sixty ftlrlongs, so that it would have
filled three pages Of this paper. In that event
we should have had only one puge in which
to offer our comments upon it, ard all the
joy would, consequently, have faded out o.
our young life.