Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1877-06-12
For the SPECTATOR.
Letter from Highland.
HIGHLAND COUNTY. June, 1877.

and Russians seem hardly sufficient to
fill up the foreign departments of the
press. Mr.. Grants military
government has gone where the wood
bine twineth, and now the outrage mill
has ceased to grind, so that the newspa-
per correspondent in this department J.
as miserable as doctor during q W -. $
healthy season. Unlike the av 10y ely
correspondent of the Richmor = ei ~
patch, we have no locals in = 10 .u 49, D. %
Baptist associations, being .oo h;r ICY sn VI
dry for any such occurrs COOS sS' sn1 go GU
Doe Hill correspond ..nt tells ' vo,; yo alI
about your camp and nuarterjvoneat-
lngs, past, pres.ent, and future. then
W. W. you piease allow me, out of what is
lelt! 70 serve you with a few scraps of
various Kinds. The picnic season is
YET SOod way off, so none of that. I
mlgnG iail back on the Centennial for
an 1tem OF Its unwritten history. Well,
several OF our most substantial High.
ianders made pilgrimage to that much
talked.of, but soon fogotten, institution
known as the grand Centennial exhibit
ton. Among others was q bow. who
was determined to see what was to be
seen, to hear what was to be heard, and
to learn, if anything was to be learned.
During his stay in the city of brother
ly love, he, of course, saw great many
curious things. Being something of a
curiosity himself, he was fond of meet
ing anything in that line. At his place
of domicil for the time, he happened to
meet with q very fashionable specimen
of the feminine gender, who hailed from
regions farther north; one of those in
descrihable beings who faint at the sight
of a large grasshopper, and go into
spasms on seeing the splash of a frog
into pond on a still evening. The
specimen aforesaid, having learned that
our boy was from the mountains of
Highland, she approached him and said,
'Neough, du tell me how you keep the
nasty, ugly bears away from we, when
we travel through the country" Moth
ing is easier" says he. 1--WE just take
our pockets full of biscuits along, and
when we meet up with one, or he meets
up with us, we throw him couple, one
at a time, purity quick, and whilst he
stops to grab and MUNICH, we are off on
the double quick. If he heaves in sight
again, here goes the biscuits" With an
air of credulity and look of wonder
ment, saying, ooh my l am so glad
as how none Of the ugly things to hum, f"
this specimen Of feminine curiosity re-
tired. Now, was that any way for a
Highland boy to do.
But, Mr.. Editor, joking aside, want
to ask something about politics. Being
somewhat on the outskirts, we don't
come in contact with the rings. We
feel astonished, however, at what we
see in the papers about the next Gov
ernor. Such squad of little fellows as
have been paraded before the country ;
small men with large mems clothes on.
Majors, Colonies, and railroad conduc-
tors. Our present governor has, in the
civil, as well as the military departments
with which he has been connected,
self equal to any and every emergency.
has separated the military from civil af-
fairs, had aOe better not even seem to
keep any military establishment for
awhile; for if we elect . one-armed OF
one-legged soldier, there will still be a
number of the same sort left out in the
cold. All cannot be provided for irthis
way. And as to railroad conductors,
the people want none of them. The
state of the finances will not permit us
to go at railroad speed for awhile. We
must hasten slowly. Better ride in
ali ox4cart, owing no man anything
than in Il palace car, covered all ovel
with first, second, and third mortgage
bonds. But whom ought we to elect fol
our governor? You have the man in
your midst, Mr.. Editor. But, come tc
think CT it, an honest politician, ops
who tells the people the plain, homes
truth, such an one, nowadays, is an ole
fogy. Let us ponder some things. Il
is good that the memory be refreshed
now and then. The question of the
public debt of Virginia was much agi
tated q few years ago. On this question
: some cried one thing and some another
, The brains of some were racked to show
: how it could be paid, and of others, who
had any, to show how toavoid paying it
Mr.. Stuart, of your county, during the
time spoken OF, published some Stats
tics, in which it was shown that a mod
crate increase of taxation would in few
years so reduce the debt that the taxes
then would be comparatively light. Oh
shocking! cried the nlultitude-you arr
!, q bondhQlder yourself; but what Of that
t if SO. We can't pay the debt, said they
Thus went the humor of the times fol
awhile. But a change came over thu
spirit Of their dreams. The funding
Jill lIstSScu, tSSttti Al tuC OOulG VI ~ u
peals and all that. Now, the cry is, th'
honor Of Virginia must be preserved
Republication, never! But we neithe
repudiate nor pay. II we pay, as pay
we must, how are We going to do it
Can't bear any more taxes, and yet sew
eral counties, after these utterances
j voted heavy increase of taxes for rail
, roads that will never be built, and. they
have to pay them too, and have thei
lands torn and mutilated into the bar
gain.
Let US turn old fogy for awhile, ant
elect q man who don't play the dema
gogue to get votes, but one who is capa
= BILE and would do honor to the Com
monwealth at home and abroad. You
: have his name in this article-I neet
. not repeat it. Personally he is nothing
= = to me nor I to him. M. T.
e MURDER OF A PREAcHER.-Ac cores
pendent of the Washington Nation
writing from Harper's Ferry, says Their
is no doubt that the Rev. Mr.. Friday
the Lutheran preacher who was fount
E dead on the canal near that place, wa
: murdered, and there is much excitemen
f growing ont of the case and the creates
, indignation. Several parties, arrestet
S for attempting to murder and rob ped
: dler, are suspected of this deed also.
r The Nations correspondent says =
r Whether the deed was the work of tn
: monte-players, who infest the Maryland
t side of the river, or the parties who ar
e held for the assault upon the peddler, i
4 d matter of much speculation. Th
e mayor, who is being supported by al
the principal citizens of the place, is tax
l ing active measures not only to discove
and punish the perpetrators of the out
rage, but also to rid the community 10
all suspicious or unworthy characters
d A great deal Of feeling prevails through
out the community, and strong de
termination to prevent any further law
lessness in the future
: TERRIFIC STORM Cincinnati, O.
o June 5.-The Commercial has the fol