The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-11-08
Fred Grants Achievement.

Of one of the great problems Of govern
ment-the utilization Of the first born OF
royalty. At the very time that the Scraps
is bearing Albert EDWARD to India to III
spcct the ruins of venerable civilization,
the adventures and exploits Of our own
Prince FRED in an almost UNEMPLOYED re-
gion of the United States are made public
through his official report.
Gen. SHERIDAN has done many remark
able things; and when he signed the
order attaching Lieut.-Col. F. ID. GRANT
10 the Yellowstone expedition, as
"a part of the expedition, 20 be put
on general or special duty" he affixed
his name TO wise and patriotic
document Lieut.-Co GRANT has proved
himself the very man for the Yellowstone.
While not exactly in command of the
steamboat Josephine or indeed in any po-
stion OF distinctly defined responsibility
il was doubtless the moral support OF his
presence that enabled that fInil craft Of
three hundred tons to stem the swift cur
rents Of the porlous stream for more than
four hundred and fifty miles, to pass in
safety between awful prccipices Of
frowning gravel, and 10 escape the jaws OF
the big bear which came down to the shore
and Growled. some eiGhty-two miles above
the mouth Of Powder river.
Amid all these dangers. Lieut.. Col. GRANT
was rs firm and collected as II III the bar
room of POTTER PALMEhs hotel. with
mere handful of only one hundred
and forty three, all told-nnd with nothing
but Gutlne gun and Government rifles
to fail back upon ii nssailed by hostile
forces. this young chcftain penetrated
country infested by elks, antelopeS, noun
tam sheep. wild geese, catfish, and jack
salmon. We cannot but deem il fortunate
for the Sioux that they were not encoun-
tered. The daring manner in which the
Josephine was run past olgc of friendly
Crow Indians shows that the old GRANT
spirit is not extinct.
The Northumberland is not only brave,
hut modest. Ills official report, although
at FIRST sight il may appear as unnecessary
as his position on the ephuc was anoIna-
lous. is "A document of which both the White
House and the country at LARGE may well
he proud. 1t Is not long; but in ohserva-
ton, in geological knowledge, in literary
| style, ana in genuine humor, il complete
| ly Overshadows the report Of Col. FoESY I'll,
who had the nominal command OF the cx-
petition. Readers of Lieut.-Col. FRED's
story will notice with admiration how
coolly he alludes to adventures the mere
idea of which causes civilian knees TO
shiver. Who but he could have spoken so
dclicatcly of the browning triumph of the
Joscphne's cause.-the grand discovery
that MELDRUM's trading post is exactly
three ana half miles above the debuu-
churc of the Little Porcupine rivers
But il is time 20 give our readers n spcci-
men of this model document and we will
tantalizc them no longer. FRED first gives
a general outline OF the trip, together with
n brief but interesting summary of his
| personal movements, Us follows:
81 left Chicago and went to St PAU therce. Viz the
northern PgClnc l9iiroad 10 nisnarck, DAkIti Itrr-
Mcto U.s steamer. which waste tykc u upihc IA.
iowt99I a4d Iplrs at ft, sicy u
cort. Al orr stevenson tolt one company Il forty
H T9S on me ei oo SG On 'AS %cR
! ~ Of N y ao, Gna ron up ne ryci until $50 T. ",
A. no White p9ison Mts on ne leloNsiote ricr' Nc
The delicate verbal play in the phrase,
1--WE took the steamer which was to take
us is touch Of fancy that might ex-
cite the envy Of the greatest wits. The ac-
count Of the midnight attack upon the
cottonwood trees, rendered a military
necessity by the scarcity Of Caucasaus
thereabouts, is vivid bit of descriptive
writing. We can see as II We're. big
cottonwood tree; we can see heut.-Col
! FRED; We can see his little Ratchet. But
let the explorer continue:
l.,
| Butes abou' twelve miles, We prucecued 10 The rly,I
unli The afternoon OF june w en- We found the
hat It Vas irdiicay tic iead Of Ssyiradn. and de-
cided 10 reun the object Of the expedition had been
| accompished.'
There would now seem to be hiatus in the
narrative, which takes single stride from
the housekeeping episode Of May rs to
the accomplishment, on June Z, Of the
object Of the expedition by the discovery
that the river was badly cut up. But the
illustrious explorer rightly apprehendinR
that men who have great things TO tell
should not be hampered by arbitrary rules
of composition, soon explains his abandon
ment of the narrative for the topical
method;
lin writing THIS report think shan ircat each sub
lcct tssiun,r t,r than taking them paest
"a ssy L To- a' ~''e was very N'ue variation ir0o
A West Point education, improved by
long intimacy with scientific minds like
B0ss SHEPHERD and DICK HARRINGTON
shows up proudly in such passages as the
following:
The country We passed through was Of oretaeeou'
I'm e. gong up through Cenozoic tunes and the 20 u
heavy rsns Of nc psseni da Se ySey Of me-
U'IIg Ike tue Valleys VI ali llvers, modified drift lhs