, 1873-01-13
THE COLUMBUS CANNON;

THE COLUMBUS CANNON.
Cairo,s Joke on a Kentucky Top<u
Carl brent il. tho 81 Louis Democrat,
At the beginning Of the s'late unpleaaant.
ness" an extensive. practical joke was paros.
trated by some citizens OF Cairo upon ia fn.
habitauts of Columbus, Ky., which created con.
siderable excitement at the time, and succeedaa
beyond the intention Of its .prolectors. Du1ins
and preparation, Cairoite happened ta
come across small toy bre.s cannon and ~
Tns said Of the nan in Maine, s:no bxs
en- idcc, and went to work onto IL
Soon thereafter aome merchants OF Cairo sena
in. business letters to Columbus. inc;denf,lf,
amoug the people Of Cairo, for the purpose of
making their Columbus neighbora present Of
brass cannon. Mysterious hints, pointing i,
the same direction, appeared in the Cairo ~
pers, and thence crept INTO the telesTaphic co..
fespondence OF the Associated Press. Thess
we1o seized upon with avdisy by Soma Northern
Journals, and we're made the basis Of seyeye
etrictures upon the accession procivites al
Southern Illinois in general and Cairo in par-
ticnlar, These comments naturally nade theI,
It iuay as we'll be stated, in this connection that
Cairo and the region for many miles north oft
did svmpathize with the secession movement, At
least to the extent Of believing that it ought rot
to be- interfered with. The kentuckians were
well aware OF this sympathy, and we're cmte-
quently prepared to beheve anything th4s
people Of Columbus had already made begin.
ming in the artillery business by nuearthlng
misty old ca,1onade, which was loaded to ths
muzzle and pointed toward the North, and which
would doubtless have e1terminated acres Of
"Northern hordes" " # they had come, and i any
one could have been found bold enough 70 touch
AZ n IT,
The braeR cannon presentation Nas worked
ouietlv. and in m underground manner, beforo
ANYTHING like an authoxatative statement Has
| made. Only few were u the secret, and sas
| affair Was 10 managed vat an others we1e mys.
titled. No one knew with certainty who xe1e
The projectors OF the plon; but it wss generally
| believed that there Was no ahan about it, md
! that q cannon was really to be presented o.
| lumbus. -
| Two points we're carefully impressed upon ths
minds Ct tho Columbus peoPle-that secrecy VA
necessary to avoid the vigilance Of the Pedetd
authorities, and the presentation was intended
| as q surprise. On their part, they intended to
g11rprise. the givers, and to ahow thar appteci.
| ton Of the gift by grand reception and dinner:
| It was finally Unlimited to them that the cannon
would bo sent on certain day, On the steanel
| Aleck Scott, then loading at Cairo.
| Il happened that the Aleck Scott WAS tempe
| tariIy detained, for some cause, By GoEarnueni
orders. This detention assisted the eel, and
provoked telegram from the Mayor Of colum-
bus to Cairo official, inquiring when the Alex Y
officisl. not understanding the matter, and b.
Ieying that q sell was being. attempted upoa
i him. replied that tho boat he'd been released
and would leave On day named, n charge ot
m armed party Of citizens. Il vas 10
intention Of the projectors OF the e., r.
Their friends, to the number OF htty o,
more. accompanied by brass band. AHised u
| Colnmbus. they we're au to be tailed on" to
length Of twine, headed BY the band, and ela-
riousIy to drag the almost invisible cannon np
into % town. Then festivities were to follow. !:
tba expense Of the Canoites, By which the 1ofa
vas to be washed do wn and settled -
Affairs were in this posture when news ~
brought to Cairo Of the extensive preparations
that were being made in Columbus 1or ne Il
ception Of the cannon These preparations I'D
been carried on quietly, their result being = =
landed a. SURPRISE but come OF the desail
necessarily leaked out. A dinner on lAtss
gcalo had been arranged for, and coaad
erable SUMS had already been expended. tfea
had been tho slaughter among the poultry ~ ~
porcino population, and Columbus cooss ~
) cafes and pastries. Among the lu1nries pte
pared, wore huge pound-cakes, "ornamented
with small American flags, d1aped in black.
fact, il was to be "big dinner" and It vas q e
pected that Columbus would be crowded Vlta u
denizena Of the rural districts ol1o1 tne nne:
, horses in the country had been engaged 20 1ss
the cannon up into town, and ambitious o!a1o.
. wero consuming the midnight kerosene III 70
8 preparation Of :" eatempors" addresses
. When this intelligence reached the Pfo1ee'a
8 of the presentation, they we're cons1aeiaoi{ s
r tonished and aot 4 little alarmed. Iley CALLED
caucus for consultation. Tho Joke had sncecn
ed beyond their utmost expectations. BENG Y
to "run ITSELF" it had run over t1e Anlta :
lowed to any sort Of 4 joke. 1t han oeeoa'
serious natter Tho expensive PrepaEauohas ohs,'
Columbus must be stopped oeio1o 1lIs 49, es1, =.
/. 70 auv farther. Some one must 50 Gown -
: 2 bust up" the affair by explaining the los
Z Who would "ben the cat?" One Of the nnlan !,
finally consented to 60 to Columbus, and Sc. y
1aadea With the cannon and with serlous mhG1
,. ings. ,,. hoo., . aoon y, bo landed
% Columbus. He waa beset by ANXIOUS ln4uuu.
!, who sought information concerning tne cAl1a v
It He put bold face On the matter, sssa1sa Ma'
+: erybody that it Was "a4 right ana ~a,e
). M town. accompanied by rapidly 1neleas.ts y
% crowd. When he reached Roane street, !
e thronr OF excited citizens vas 80 grea1 tnas
:, nositiou Of the ambassador Was any1n'n8
j. an1easant one. He did not really dread the scs
~ the nop1lace. but he trembled in hls ooou
n he Thought of the wrath of those o1asols.
in At 1ast. in response to repeated denanos'
n drew the cannon from his vest pocke!, aoa
d hibited it to the eager gaze OF 1ne "sA'A'
D multitude. u.,*r,. r,
Ct scenas That ensned, It satisfied him to p
10 that he cot away from that town alive, a-a -
10 had no desire to 70 near it again Inen q.
10 tha war. which many had fondly hopel MiR "
ayerted. and the cannon joke "as 1oos !"
le roar OF real cannon --.