Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1880-12-09
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A REMARKABLE MAN.

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One of the most remarkable private SOL
diers on either side in the late war was young
man named Tom Kelly, private in the Sec
ond Michigan infantry. The remarkable be.
gan with his build. He had arms full
hand longer than any other man who could be
found. He had no more backbone than
snake, and could almost tie himself in knot.
He could tell the date on silver quarter
held twenty feet away, and he could hear ev.
cry word of conversation in common tone
of voice across an ordinary street. He could
run half q mile as fast as any officers horse
could gallop, and there was a standing offer OF
$40 to any man who could hold him down:
On bet of box of sardines be once passed
six sentinels within an hour. On another oc-
casion be entered the colonels tent and
brought away that officers boots. .u.,,
When Toms remarkable qualifications were
discovered he was detailed as a scout and spy,
and was changed from one department to an.
other. In the capacity ofspy he entered Rich.
mond three times. He entered Vicksburg
and preached sermon to the soldiers week
before the surrender. He was in New Orleans
FIVE days before that city was taken. He was
man who firmly believed that he could not
be killed by an enemy, and he governed his
movements accordingly.
While under orders Of General Hooker,
Kelly proved, on several occasions, that he
could see further with the naked eye than any
officer could with field glass. If he could
get place of concealment within fifty feet of
picket, hs could catch the countersign. He
visited Lookout Mountain, intending to spike
as many of the Confederate guns as possible.
His disguise was that of a farmer who had been
driven from home by the Union forces. The
enemy somehow got suspicious of him, and he
was placed in the guard house for the night.
There was sentinel at the door and Others
near by standing guard over guns and stores,
but it was all the same to Kelly. With an
old tin plate for use as shovel and scoop, he
burrowed out at the back end of the building,
and walked up to two pieces of artillery, and
spiked bosh before any alarm was raised.
When the aentinels began firing at him he ran
out of camp, but before he was clear Of it ne
had been fired at fifty times. .a
Kelly was once captured when asleep by
Missouri guerrillas. When he opened his eyes
he was surrounded by FIVE or six men Oh foot
and others in the saddle. 1t was under tree
in an open field, and he had been tracked bya
dog. As he rose up at their command lie re-
sorted to his wonderful skill as gymnast. By
dodging and twisting and jumping, he got out
of the crowd, pulled man off his saddle, and
would haye escaped had not the dog fastened
to his leg. He was then put under guard in a
log house with only one room. Two sentinels
sat at the door with revolvers in their hands
and kept watch Of his every movement. After
an hour or two Kelly approached asif to offer
them tobacco, and jumped clear over their
heads like deer He had half 8 mile OF
open field to cross, and he crossedft under the
fire of score of muskets and rovolvers with
out being hit.
During his three years and half in the
service, Kelly captured ifty-two Confederates.
and turned them over as prisoners. He him
self was captured and escaped five times.
As spy he entered more than thirty Confed.
crate camps and forts. He was fired upon at
least 1000 times, and yet was never wounded.
He had said that he would never die by the
hand of an enemy, and his. prophecy came
true. In the last year Of the war, while
bringing a captured Confederate scout into
camp, both we're killed within forty reds of
the Union lines by bolt of lightning.
POLYGAMY AS AN INVESTMENT.
We halted at way station for dinner. A
white haired, but not very sanctimonious
saint occupied the chair next to me. "a res.
ident of the country ?" I asked. "Oh, yes;
for twenty-five years" married ?" Some"
"More than one wife?" II think so. I've
got few scattered about here and there"
"Believe in polygamy, presume !" "Cer.
tainly. I'd never made a living if l hadn't"
slows that?" "Well, you see, stranger, l
used to think . good deal as you do. | had
100 acres of land and one wife, but didn't
make much headway. There was too much
work for one man to attend to. Finally l
took second wife. She took her share of
the burden like brick, and affairs moved on
in better shape. Then I got to thinking if
two wives were better than one, three would
be better than two; consequently | took
third and my affairs improved still more. |
mapped out the business Of the rancho, and
gave No. I her part, and gave part to No.
2, and part to No. 8, and took part my
self. Everything went on like clockwork.
Our little community was thoroughly organ
lied. Finally concluded that fourth wife
would be quite an advantage, and, l looked
around and secured her. / found that the
more wives had the more land could work.
now operate 240 acres of one kind and an
other, and have things, so systematized, that
everything goes on quite lovely, and 1 don't
have much to do myself Polygsmy is a
great institution, my friend, and you'll never
succeed in the world until you marry few
times. Sometimes one of my wives gets lit
tie ofish like, but instead Of making great
row about it and getting divorce as you
would do in California, simply stay away
from her for day or two, and then when l
do happen around, she smiles all over her
face and loves me in desperate fashion. Oh,
yes, I'll marry several times yet before l die,
and the more women marry, the richer l
expect to get." This talk was by no means
sophistry, as I afterward ascertained. "A
large part of the women of Utah are slaves.
The WORD "NEeRo"- Standard
Bearer, edited by colored man, says: We
are afraid that some of our readers, among
the colored people, misunderstood the word
"negro" as applied to their race, and one of
our correspondents has mos: vigorously pro-
tested against our use oft. He probably con-
siders it synonymous with "nigger," a vulgar
meaningless epithet, that no people. use so
frequently as the colored people themselves.
The word negro is the proper race desig:
nation of the colored people in America, and
10 r;ohtlv annlied tn the descendants of the