Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-01-27
An Incident in the Life of the Late
DIR. s. G.. Howe.

olutiOn DR.. Howe went to Paris on
visit, and was there when one of the
Polish instructions was put down. The
disaster filled Paris with crowds Of Polish
refugees. A committee for the relief Of
these sufferers was formed, of which La
fayette was President. DR.. Howe was
one of the officers of the committee, and
attracted the notice and won the affection
of Lafayette by his great services. During
the early proceedings Of this committee it
was found necessary to send secret agent
to Berlin. From this enterprise those
most ready 10 undertake other perilous
deeds shra nix, and, among those who were
in the secret, Lafayette aid not find a sim
Gle volunteer. At length DR.. Howe volun-
teered to face the peril, but Lafayette re-
fused the offer, because, he said, he could
not spare Dr. Howe from the work in
Paris. But the necessity was urgent, and,
as no other person could be found for the
trust, Lafayette reluctantly consented to
intrust the business to Dr.. Howe. Lafay-
cite drew up letter Of instruction for Dr.
Howe, and the doctor started for Berlin,
under the conviction the secret of the mis-
sion was unknown to all save Lafayette
and himself. Berlin was reached in safe
ty. When DR.. Howe reached his hotel
he saw gentleman walking on the pave
ment. AS soon as DR.. Howe's light bag
gage was disposed of in an upper room
he came downstairs to the pavement,
where he was saluted by the stranger,
under the impression that DR.. Howe
was a brother Englishman. The gen
tleman proposed a walk, to which
DR.. Howe agreed. After walking togeth-
er toward the suburbs they started back
on their return to the hotel. For some
reason, but not on account of anything
connected with the secret mission, DR..
Howe stopped a short time in the sub
urbs. AS he turned toward the hotel he
saw his English friend walking the pave
ment evidently in great perturbation. AS
he passed DR.. Howe he whispered, with
out stopping: /" The gems d'Gr7aes are aft
er you" DIR. Howe had Lafayette's let
ter of instructions III his pocket, and,
knowing that it would compromise him,
he at once determined on his course.
The three soldiers entered his room with
him, and they were thrown from their
guard by Dr. Howe's apparent willing
ness to 60 with them. AS they descend
ed the narrow stairs one Of the soldiers
was in advance and one on each side of
DR.. Howe. At the head of long flight |
of stairs DR.. Howe suddenly seized his
right and left companions and hurled |
them headlong against the soldier in |
front, all three of the soldiers falling to |
the bottom of the stairs. Dr. Howe re-
turned to his room, locked the door, and |
prepared for the destruction of the letter |
of instructions. The guard understood |
this as perfectly as DR.. H. under
stood it. Two of them sat down |
near his door; the other went into the |
yard. When DR.. Howe opened his win |
dow to throw out Che letter in small |
fragments the guard gathered the |
pieces. DR.. Howe said he was conf |
dent that no one of the pieces had two |
letters on it. After the completion |
of the mutilation Dr. Howe opened |
his door and surrendered. He was |
marched off to prison, and next morning |
taken before the military police, where,
to his horror, he saw his letter as perfect |
ly put together as it had been before he |
tore it into pieces. He was ordered to a |
Prussian fortress near the frontier for con
tinement in dungeon. He knew that at |
one part Of the journey the vehicle APP |
preached within about mile of the from
tier, and, on reaching that point, he
sprang from the wagon and started for the
boundary line. Unfortunately he sprained
his ankle, which interfered with his fleet
ness; but, Notwithstanding the accident,
DIR. Howe had nearly reached the line of
safety when his guards caught him.
Upon reaching the prison he was thrown
into dungeon, and the authorities not
only refused to permit the prison doctor
to do anything for him, but refused to let
him have any more water than he could
drink, for fear that he would use it to
mitigate the sufferings in his spralned
ankle. He said that words could not
describe his anguish, extending through
many weeks. He often hoped for death.
The Hon Edward Everett was our Min
ister to England, and, after many vexa-
-ious delays, he finally secured the release
Of DR.. Howe. His constitution was shat
tered, and he was for many years a SUI
ferer Louisville C0url6r-J Our1adl
The remarkable discovery of boil
ing lake in the Island of Dominica has ex-
cited much scientific interest, and inves-
LEGATIONS Of the phenomenon are to be
made by biologists. 1t appears that
company exploring the steep and forest
covered mountain behind the town of
came upon this boiling lake about
2, 800 feet above the sea-level, and two
miles in circumference. On the wind
clearing away for moment the clouds Of
sulphurous steam with which the lake