The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1875-06-09
GREAT AMERICAN oRAroR1o

UAs10A AmNAANAN sORAlOhlO
The Masae of he P1ains-A Train
fro0 Pike County-A Might Attack
and . Raoeake ARfa-0rauA Hymn
ooa GhoRoAt tN
From the Cincinnati Commercial.
Did you ever hear that impressive
oratorio, The Plains" by Mr.. John
Phoenix Of California? For breadth,
and depth, and grasp Of subject it is
probably unequaled.
The symphony opens upon the wide
and bOuudlesa plains. in longitude
1902 W., latitude go 21< 0Ss n, and
about sixty miles from the west bank
of Pitt River. These data are beauti-
fully and clearly expressed by long
geographically drawn note from an
d fat clarionet. The sandy nature of
the soil. sparsely dotted with bunches
Of cactus, the extended view, fiat and
anbroken to the horizon. cave by the
rising smoke in the extreme verge,
denoting the vicinity of . Pi Utah
village. are represeBted By the bass
drum. A few notes on the spiecolo
call the attention to solitary ante
iope, picking up mescal beans In the
foreground. The sun having an alti-
tude Of 36o 2T, blases down upon the
scene IN Undesirable majesty. Grad
ually the sounds roll forth in q song
of rejoioing 20 tho God Of Days:
0fthy iatensity
And great immensity-s ;.
Now then we sing;
Beholding in gratitude
Thee in this latitude,
Curious thing,
Which swells out into .Hey Jim
along, Jim along Josey." then deere
scend0, mas menos, POGO poclta.
dies away and dries ur
Suddenly we hear approaching a
train from Pike county, consisting of
seven families, with forty-six wagons,
each drawn by thirteen oxen. Each
family consists Of q man in butternut-
colored clothing. driving the oxen; a
wife IN butternut-colored clothing,
riding in the wagon, holding butter
nut baby, and seventeen butternut
children running promiscueusly about
the establishments; all arc barefooted,
dusty, and smell unpleasantly. lAll
these circumstances are expressed by
pretty rapid fddling for some minutes,
winding up with . puff from the or
pheclide, played by an intoxicated
Teuton with an atrocious breath-it
is impossible to misunderstood the
description.
Now rises Ger the plains in melli-
fuous accents the grand Pike county
chorus:
Oh, well soon be thar
In the land OF gold,
Through the forest old.
Ger the mounting cold,
With spirits bold
Oh, we come, we come,
And wen soon be thar,
Gee up, Boliy!whoo hup, whoo haw!
The train now encamp. The un-
packing Of the kettles and mess-pans.
the unyoking Of the oxen, the gather
ing about the various eampfres. the
ffissling Of the pork aBe 90 clearly ex-
untutored savage could readily COM
prehend it. Indeed. so vivid and life
like was the representation, that
lady sitting near us invofuntarily ex-
claimed aloud at a certain passage,
Thar, that pork's buTsiagr and it
was truly interesting to watch the
gratified expression Of her face when,
by few notes of the guitar, the pan
was removed from the fire, and the
blazing pork extinguished.
This was followed by the beautiful
aria, "Oh, marin, / want q pancake"
followed by the touching recitation,
"Shet up or / will spank you," to
which succeeds q grand crescendo
movement. representing the fight of
the child with the pancake, the pur-
suit OF the mother, and the final ar
rest and summary punishment of the
former. represented by the rapid and
successive strokes of castanet. The
turning in for the night follows, and
the deep and stentorous breathing of
the cncampment is we'll given by the
bassoon, while the su6erings and trials
of an unhappy father with fretful
infant are touchingly set forth by the
cornet a-piston.
Part Second--The night attack Of
the Pi Utahs, the fearful cries of the
demcniac Indians. the ehrieks of the
females and children, the rapid and
effective FIRE of the rifles. the stampede
of the oxen, their recovery. and the
final. repulse, the Pi Utahs being
routed after loss of thirty-si killed
and wounded, while the Pixies lose
but one scalp from an old fellow who
wore 3 wig and lost ii in the scuff]e.
are faithfully gives, snd excite the
most intense interest in the minds of
the hearers; the emotions of fear, ed
miration, and delight succeeding eaeh-
other in their minds with almost
painful rapidity. Then follows the
grand chorus:
Oh! we give them fits,
The Injun Utahs, -
With our SIX shooters
We give 'em particular fits.
Morning succeeds. The sun rises
(octavo flute1break-
fast ia eaten-in q rapid movement on
three eharps; the oxen are caught and
voked up-with small drum:an6 tri-
angle; the watches, purses, and other
of the conquered Pi Utahs
are stored away in . camp-kettle, to a
small movement on the piccolo, and
the train moves en with the grand
chorus:
Wem soon be thar,
Gee mp. Bof1y! Whoo hup. whoo haw!
The whole concludes With the grand
hymn and cho1ss:
When we die wen go to Benton,
Whup! whoo. haw!
The greatest man that e'er land saw.
Geei - G
Who this little airth was sent on,
Whupl wAOo, hxWt
To tell a hawk nom hand saw!
Gee!
A precocious boy was asked which
was the greater evil of the two, hurt
ing another's feelings or his finger.
He said the former. Right, my dear