Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-06-29
sEMPHIS APPEAL
GREAT SLAUGHTER

spawned nightmare upon the track Of
beautiful DREAM II. {. Slaughter o
Memphis. 1t seems that the bosom o
this "disgruntled" gentleman is full o
sgonjes, rammed with misery, and ht
els relief in his tTusty pen. Ht
sgreads the innocent and unoffending
follscap before his fearful eyes and pour
out upon It's white surface all his woes
lust as the confidiDg school girl pourS
into the bosom Of fond mother all bel
gentle thoughts and fsncies, 1t wa;
natural to suppose that the age Of oul
friend Slaughter would have saved his
epldermis from the affiliations Of that
virulent and troublesome disease called
Ecacoethes scriLendi." But it has over.
taken him in the meridian OF life, and
be is suffering Ike q poor victim with
the mumps swsltering between two
blankets. He seems disposed tohold on
to his ailment with the grip Of fate
and while he is wrestling with il
We shall keep at bay all outsiders and
zee that he has q square, fair fight. We
have managed to wade through MI
Slaughter's turgid rhetoric, and we infel
from his diatribe that, like Job, he has
been sorely afflicted, but, unlike JOB, he
does not bear his suffering with philoso'
ply OF fortitude. Indeed his way does
not seem to be q way Of pleassntness OF
ofpeace. His path, judging from his jer'
emiRdes, lis notstTewn with roses nor any
other sort Of aromatic herbs. His efforts
TO inject "reading, 'riting an 'rithms-
ticu into the heads OF children have
been q good deal like "the pursuit Of
knowledge under difficulties" He has
the sincerest sympathy Of the public in
his misfortunes. But we think Mr..
Slaughter exsggerates his Importance.
He came to Memphis few years ago
worthy pedagogue, seeking to "teach
the young idea how to shoot" He
found his way into the public schools Of
Memphis Just as, .mysteriously as the
snail finds its way to the top OF an OBJ
elisk. He came a stranger, but was
az fortunate as Saul, the sou OF kish,
who went out to seek his fathers asses
and found q kingdom, for that strange
good luck which follows some people
placed Mr.. Slaughter as superintendent
Of our public schools. In that position
he was like bull in china shop, and
looked as lonely and much out OF place
as q monarch in exile. But there came
frost, killing,frost. The tender leaves
Of hope were withered by the remorse-
less and grewsome school board. AT the
expiration Of the term for which he was
elected the school board met and lifted
him out of his position as, uDceremoni-
ously as the young lady with scream
and long pair Of tongs lifts out the
toad which she finds hopping about the
floor Of her psrlor, dedicated to the
thrumbing Of jsngling piano and the
soft whispering OF wOoing beaux. The
school board incontinently struck him
with its trident, and the doomed Slaugh-
ter, like the stricken Ajax, his prototype,
tumble1 into the sea. He was sucked
under by that tickle and chRngeful pop
ular sentiment which the Romans de-
plOred, and which is characteristic OF the
ingratitude of republics. 1t was thought
that the smitten Slaughter would never
again float in buoyant prominence on
the surface OF good fortune. But like
the Bohemian who, being Tilted by the
rich mistress, married her poor maid, the
irrepressible Slaughter concluded if he
couldnot wOO,snd again win the position
of superintendent, he would hitch On,
like candle-extinguisher, to the public
schools as a teacher, and he rushed fran
tically to the embrace Of his first love,
which, for his own sake, he should
never have deserted. AS principal or
teacher for the past two years, Mr..
Slaughter has been glum and unobtru-
sive. So long as thrift followed fawning,
rs pretended to be silent, but be was IA
miliGr with all the conspiracies. But it
seems sill this time his defeat has lain in
his bosom like a stone In the bottom OF a
well. The school board was compelled
to dispense with the services Of about
twenty teachers. Slaughter happened
t. be one OF the uDfcrtunates. This was
the spark to light the magazine. Like
a broken-nosed prize-fighter, he SHES
his castor into the ring, and seems anx-
ious to spill ink with somebody. Here
tofore, to the, eye of the casual OBJ
server, he seemed cold and passiOnless;
but he was not. All this time he
has been slowly but surely generating
steamgand filling up with thunderbolts
as he hung on the low horizon sur
charged to bursting. To use the lam
guage Of the street, he has been 'lsyin'
for 'em;". evidently been reading the
words Of freedoms poet which urges
the ambitious patriot, when batiied,
never to give it up so. His only recourse
for revenge is the newspapers, and
there he is found every day, with arms
outstretched ike the bOOms Of govern
ment derrick. while his awful pen is
churning up his enemies like q pile
driver in heavy sea. From day to day
he snaps his old flint-lock blunderbuss
at the public with s. frequency and feroc-
ity as amazing IS it is harmless. When
he grapples with a subject he means
business. Rspudiating the system Of
allopathy under which he was medi-
Gated in other days, he resorts to home
opathy, and administers his cstholicon
in letters to the public small and nu-
merous. In a word, as a letter-writer,
Mr.. Slaughter has shot into the empy-
rean Of fame like rocket. He has
taken the public by its eapacious ear,
and is shifting it right and left.
After reading Mr.. Slaughte.'s
numerous letters, we cannot
tell whether he is making real attack
or accommodating. We infer he is mere
Iy maneuvering, and what he has al
ready published about the public schools
is the breeze that precedes the storm.
In all seriousness we advise NJ. Slaugh-
ter to bsndage Up his sores in the softest
lint, q surer cure FOR them than the SYM
pathy he invokes 10y holding them up
tothe public gaze. The people Of Mem
phis are not as accommodating as were
the friends OF Lazarus in q similar emeT-
gency. The public understand the mo-
Nv ElanOhfprfs AZ