Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1881-11-08
THE MASSACHUSETTS, MILITIA,


The conduct of the Ninth MASSACHUSETTS
Regiment. on the occasion of its recent trip
to Yorktown, was. from all accounts, most
shameful and disgraceful in the extreme. In.
Bichmond, as detailed bya correspondent of
the Chicago Times, they took possession of
drays and wagons on the streets, throwing
the drivers of, went into bar>rooms, elected
the ~bar>keepers, and served themselves with
all the liquor they wanted. Worst of all,
theyswers low enough, while fred up with
ssetheir stolen whisky, to throw their filthy,
drunken arms around respectable ladies on
the street, call them by the familiar name of
isis, /" and kiss them-and all this whilst
they were the guests of the city, and being
entertained by it. Their behavior was so Of
fensive that, despite the fact that they were
the city's guests, the mayor was forced to
notify them to leave in four hours. Gov.
Cornell, of New York. rendered the thir,
teenth Brooklyn Regiment, also guests of the
city, TO assist the municipal authorities in
%ejseting The roWdies. The correspondent of
ths Times further says:
They left Richmond about1O O'clock Mon.
day morning, and throughout the Journey
they indnlged In the flthiest language.
When the train reached Ghichahominy thew
went into a store where the proprietor had
made special arrangements for the aeeommo-
dation of the soldiers, and ransacked the es-
tabllshmentso of the last bit of stock that was
in it. The officers made their appearance
after the poor storekeeper had been robbed
otail, he had, and ordered their men to the
train. At Williamsburg, the historic loca>
ton of William and Mary College and the
scene ofbmany bloody conflicts during the
Revolutionary war, as we'll as in 'tthe late
unpleasantness," they again behaved outs
rageously, and robbed stores of all thew
wanted, or even more. Their insults to la
dies met with an unexpected rebuke at Will
liamsburg. One of the Massachusstt fellows
lnsulted q lady on the street, when the cap.
tain OF q Kentucky company. believed to be
the McCreary Guards, of Frankfort, who
heard his vile language, Immediately knock
ed the brute to the ground. Several of the
dastard,s comrades came to his assistance, but
the brave Kentuckian drew his revolver and
defied them advance a step toward him. In
the, meantime, the Kentucky troops gathered
around their bravo officer, and il was with
difficulty that a bloody conflict was prevented.
Arriving at Yorktown, they were Stunned
by all the troops, and at several Northern
and Southern headquarters special orders
were issued to prohibit the Massachusetts
troops from entering the lines under the cir,
cnmstances. One thing has been said in
their favor, that no better drilled troops were
on the ground, and it is with regret that this
report Is made of their disgraceful conduct.
AFTER their arrival at Yorktown, their con-
duct was SO outrageous as to call for q severe
reprimand from Gen. Hancock.
The military commission, composed of
Major 81. B. Sargent and Captains D. f..
Dolan and Arthur Lincoln, appointed by the
adjutant:general Of Massachusetts, to visit
Richmond and inquire into the charges of
misconduct on the part of members of the
Regiment, arrived in that city Tuesday last,
and began the work of investigation on We'd
nesday morning, at the mayors Office.
The Grand Lodge 1. o. o. f. of West
Virginia met in regular session, in Parkcrs-
burg, on Tuesday, the 25th ultimo. The
following officers were elected to serve the
ensuing year: G. NJ, O.J. K. Ellifritz, of
Wheeling; Dep. G. NJ, Phiueas Gano, of
West Union ; Grand Warden, A. T. Lang,
of Parkersburg; Grand Sec, j. ". Steele,
OF Grafton !; Grand Treas Henry Seamon,
of Wheeling; Grand Reps, R. S. Brown,
of Ravenswood, and j.. T. Hoke, of Keyser.
The next meeting will be he'll: in Charleston.
The Grand Encampnont met immediately
after the adjournment of the Grand Lodge.
and elected The following officers F: W. II.
Heaton, Parkersburg, Grand Patriarch :
Jacob Morris, Wheeling, High Priest II.
a Uthman, Wheeling, Grand Scribe
Henry seamon, Wheeling. Grand Treasurer;
DIR. C.sshriver, Bethany, Grand Senior War
den Chester. Petersburg, Grand .senti-
nel;zJohn Rossier. Charleston, Grand De.
putty Sentinel; George Brennan, Parkors.
burg Grand Marshal; j.. g. Vance, Glarks>
burg. Grand Representative to the Sovereign
: Lodge.
OF the corn crop of West Virginia for
1880, Jefferson produces the largest number
of bushels, and Marshall comes next. The
counties exceeding half q million bushels arc:
Jefferson, Ga, 425; Marshall, 659, 6l5 {;
Berkeley, 539,S75; Kanawha, $40, 41O, and
Wayne, sol SOC. The Eastern Panhandle
produces about one-seventh, and the eight
eastern counties nearly one half of tho entire
crop of the State.
The adjourned session of our Legislature
meets in Wheeling. in January to codify the
laws: The body will be composed of 4s
Democrats, Is Republicans and 2 Green
hackers in the House, and 90 Democrats. Q
Republicans, 1 Greenbacker and 1 Ipdepen>
dent in the Senate, if no vacancies occur.
Col Cole, presiden. of the Virginia, Ten
nesseo and Georgia Air Line, states that by
January next he will run cars from Memphis.