The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-01-03
BY HoRsLEY BROS: s. FIGUERs. COL

mean that under this surface salm there
IS not often the intensest feeling. There
was Western man who, having made a
few thousands in the mines, came to
Sam Francisco to- take a steamer home.
On tile, Hight before he was to sail, he
entered the Arg0 sal5oh, seRted himself
at the table i'll sheer listlessness; aid
stalsed $50 atid won hundred: In two
hours he won a fortune. An nor;9 later
he rose from the table ruined man.
The steamer sailed without him He
was sinip1d tIfatf, Knowing little of the
world, and the sudden winning 2fid los
ing of fortune crazed him. He went
again to his work, and regularly took
J his seat at the table, and spent the earn
ings which he had saved So year
passed, If he mad forgotten a S,isitti1lg sitti1lg e
wife, she had not forgotten him, and
one evening she landed. with her child,
4 upon the pier at San F;uncisc6, penni-
less and alone. She told her story to
Johtl Odkburst; who quietly provided
for her wants Two or three evenings
after, the Western, man won some trifie,
and then gained other plays in succession
and it really seemed as tltetlsh fortune
had come again. John Oakhurst saw
his JOY and said, 81 will give you SO 900
for your next deal" He hesitated.
Your wife is at the door; will you
take it7'' The ttian accepted; but the
spirit of the gambler vas strong within
him, and, as Mr.. Oakhurst fully e4-
pected, he waited to see the result of
the play. Well, John Oakhust lost, and
with d look of gratitude, the man turn
ed aghast; seized the money, and hrlr-
ried away as if he feared that he might
still be enchanted by the spell which
bound him. 'That was bad spirit of
yourn, Jack, said his friend. EYES,"
said Jack, 'I was so tired of seeing
that fellow round, It was put-up
game between the dealer and me. It is
the first time" he added with an oath
which l think the retording sngel placed
| to his credit, GO is the first time [ ever
played a game that was not on the
square" The social life of that day
was peculiar The best of best men
were gamblers, and the best of best la
dies had no right to that title. Gentle
men young in years had wives much
their seniors and considerably larger in
their physical persons, and often one
lady had troop of gallants to do escort
duty of an evening. [ myself never
pleasure of your company" Surely in
the multiplicity of such attention there
was safety, and especially SO when each
gentlemen wore his revolver. A wife of
an old pioneer used to show chair
with hole through the cushion, made
by gentleman caller, who sat down in
bashfu1 confusion and exploded his
revolver Such was the ripened life of
the Argonauts. But with a change
of affairs a corresponding ,,change
took place in morals and manners,
and people began to put locks
on their doors and portable property
was no longer left out at night Fine
houses We're built and real estate rose
and the dealers were convicted of for
gerry and deceit California is a coun-
try unlike any other. Nature here is
rude and unfinished as the life itself.
The people seem to have come here a
thousand years too soon, and before the
great hostess was ready to receive them.
Everything is new, crude and strange.
There is nothing soft, tender or pastoral
in the whole landscape. Nature invites
to Homerics rather than to Bucolics.
The lecturer referred to the regret with
which the miners left behind them the |
chimneys to their cabins for the simple |
reason that they could not carry them |
away with the shanties, which were |
made movable. Happily the wants of |
the ArgOnauts were few and infrequent. |
1t was often that the diversity of |
amendments to the miners clothes were |
a serious perplexity to the recognition |
of the person wearing them. In the |
earlier days, two gentlemen of respec- |
liability, lost their identity entirely in
the labels of the flour sacks which had |
been added to their clothing, so that |
one of them came to be called |
"Genesee Mills and the other |
Eagle Brand" The lecturer then |
spoke briefly of domestic life, and de-
scribed the time when the highest ex-
cellence in woman was to keep board
ing-house, and to be the wife of an |
aristocratic Argonaut was to be able of |
taking in washing The only legacy of the
Spaniards to California were the names
left there, but these were fast being
superseded by the hardy musical names |
of the Argonauts. Every touching re-
latiOn of Aunt Ruth or Marin Richardf, |
whom the miners cared for tenderly, |
at her death reverently said, "She died |
of longing to get to heaven" The |
heather Chinee came in for his share
of the story as q new element, and |
an all important one, and the lecturer
then said in conclusion: / once more |
refer to the Argonauts of '49. In the
rank and file there may be many known
personally to some of this audience.
There may be gaps which the memory
of others may supply. There are homes
all through the land whose vacant places
can never be filed There are graves
all over California ON whose nameless
mounds none shall weep. | should like
to end this picture with flourish, but
the trumpets and the bands have gone
on before, and the mountains are be- !
ginning to hide the Argonauts from our
view. They are marching to the city by the
sea; are Watching for the sail of the last |
Argo, and when the last Argonaut shall |
have passed in, she, too, will spread her
white wings and slip unnoticed to the |
golden gates that open in the distance.
CONCLUSION
The lecture was delivered in a man.
ner devoid of oratory in the strict ae-
ceptation of the term, but in pleasant,
graceful and easy conversational tone
entirely suited to the admirable narrative |
which made up the lecture. The bits
of humor and pathos, which those IA
miliar with Mr.. Hartes sketches recog-
nized as his own, were told in vein of |
seriousness which was well adapted to
the romance of real life which he pic
tured. That the lecture was a thorough |
success the audience abundantly testified |
by their lavish expressions of delight |
and close attention. At the conclusion
of the lecture Mr. Harte in company
with Mr.. Fields. retired to the reception |
room, where a number of ladies and |
gentlemen were accorded an introduction |
to the author of the delightful sketches
and poems which were so familiarly
associated with the name of Brete
Harte.
Action of the Brain.
Mondes the following experiment on