Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1874-05-28

captain Of engineers, defending gallantI.
the flag he lived to deny. And among
Others was II young lieutenant, tho quar-
tcrlnnStcr Of our chrOnicler's regiment
u good fighter when there was work tt
be done but SO quiet and unprctcn.line
that he attracted little notice, and who
would have been quito as much as
tonishcd us any Of his comrades, if fate
had revealed her secrets to him and
showed him himself, tho commander OF
the American army, the conqucrer OF
Ice, the President of the United States
There is II great deal said about silve,
spoons, but very little about tho study.
industry and energy to make that spoon
dip out the soup. Unknown to others,
possibly to himself, that young soldier,
l believe, was quietly working out q
prob lem in his Mexican tent and learn.
ing slowly, silently, but very surely the
lesson Of self-discipline, deliberate
judgement aud indomitable- perscver-
ance that, unaided by any brilliantquali
ties, have made tho name of Ulysses
S. Grant what it is today. The rank
Of government employees are not made
famous by the exploits of men alone.
Side by side with those soldiers, whose
strong arms have done tho rougher ser
vice, arc delicate women whose quick
intelligence, supplementing the brute
force Of the others, has nobly done duty
to their sex. 80,
| GENTLE LITTLE QUAKEREss,
now in the treasury, saved the Union
troops at Winchester. Her family was
the only loyal family in the town, and
Sheridan, in sore need, determined to
risk the chance of a message reaching
them, asking for any information they
could give about tho rebels. So he.
dispatched an old negro to the house.
When the messenger arrived this girl
was the only one at home. Appreciat-
ing the need Of promptncss, she sat
down and wrote full and accurate, &C
count of the enemy's position and re-
sources. She folded her message in a
little ball of tin-foil, and made the COL
ored man carry it under his tongue.
She dispatched Aim at midnight, and
beyond the success of the battle next
day, she heard nothing OF her distin-
gulshed correspondents for months.
War seldom respects the courtesies of
life, but tho first leisure moment Cen
eral Sheriden had, he sent her n beauti-
full watch with an inscription testifying
his gratitude in very complimentary
terms ;and dangling from the chain is a
tiny gold cavalry sabre that can be
drawn out of it's sheath.
ANOTHER HEROINE WHO AIDED FEDERAL
SOLDIERS.
In the same department there is an
other heroine, who was one of the few
loyal inhabitants of Richmond when the
days were darkest for Northern people.
The horrors of Libby prison were I'M
mitigatcd, and every effort to relieve
the wrctched victims, exposed the help
crs to equal hardships. Notwithstand-
ing this vigilance, four of the prisoners
Ivy some chance managed to partially
excavate n passage for escape. when
suspicion was reused and their plan
threatened with discovery. The inevi-
table consequence would be death, of
course. EVENT. they could have got
out of prison, their condition would not
have been much better, for they were
utter strangers in the country. In this
extremity the news of her patriots peril
was brought to this brave woman. She
sent word to them that if they could get
outside the walls by the car)i>st dawn
the following day, she would guide them
safely. They worked, you may be sure.
Poor creatures, it was for life itself
they were trying, and in the faint grey
cold morning light their eyes fell upon
a tall, handsome market woman, who
signaled them to follow her. They did
so. She walked boldly along the high
way with her basket of vegetables on
her head, they creeping stealthily
through the brmblcs ain the wood that
skirted the roads. And so she guided
them twelve milcs-rcmember, they
were men whom sho never saw before.
and to serve them she was abandoning
her husband and home, for there was
no going back to Richmond after that. !
They all reached the Union lines safely,
and subsequently, one hundred and five
more escaped by that sllbterranean pas
sage. Herhusbandrejoincd her shortly.
Tho men she never heard Of again, nor
would she know them if she did. They
never saw her face nor she theirs.
RoMANcEs OF THE DEPARTMENTS.
Besides these, there arc many who
lost health and beauty in long watches
by the bedsides of wounded soldiers,
and many whose hearts arc buried i'll
the unknown graves that stud every
battlefield. Nor arc gayer romances
wanting. A foreign nobleman, rich, ac-
complished, and worthy of his title in
every way, walking through the Treas
ury halls one day, caught sight of Il
sweet pretty face bending over a desk.
Perhaps the spell that wrought upon SO
many of his countrymcn in the dear old
Legendary days was over him, for afterthe
true fairy book fashion, he fell in love
ON the spot. They arc married now,
living on the border of the poetic Rhine,
and the lovely Baroness keeps her warm
est welcome for those who knew her
when she was nothing but a " Treasury
girl" Miss Smead, whom newspaper
readers know as Miss Grundy, used
to be in the Treasury Department., and
her mother, who is doing for the Louis
vile Colricr-J Journal as good work as
ever her daughter did for the Now
York World, is there. And higher
still, i'll literary honor, is MIR. Bur
rouglls, of the same department., whose
"charming little book, Wake Robin"
introduced him to Carlyle and other
distinguished authors during his visit
abroad.
THE OFFICE OF FOREIGN LETTERS,
in the Postoffice, employs women as
translators exclusively. There are three
of these clerks who are required to
know thoroughly French, German,
Spanish, and italian, and to translate
from either of them into English. or
rice vcrsu. It is not necessary to add
any compliments to the ladies' who fill
these positions. There was formerly
employed at one of these desks, Mrs.
Pettigrew King, who afterwards, as the
wife Of Boden, the bigamist member of
Congress from one of the Carolinas.
grew into notoricty all over the country.
Tho lady was of the best and most loyal
Southern blood. She had had two
husbands already when she married
Bodcn, and by education and personal
attractions was a very conspicuous per.
son in Washington society, which paid
her the high compliment of attributing
to her that exceedingly clever novel,
"My Daughter Elenor." One of the
most important witnesses III the famous
Mrs. Wharton's case, is in the Treasury.
and the same department sheltered tie
pretty, wife of a young aristocrat of
Washington, whose sudden death
made the marriage public. His rela-
tions, among whom is the wife of the
Secretary Of the Navy, tried to break
the will that made her his heir, but the
Justice of her claim WAS too evident to