The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1882-06-09

$500
oS.nss thy notes. s.y &inne!hs!as,
Let some sadder strain prevail;
Listen, while Q wandering maniac
Signs to thee his mournful tale.
CH~oRUs-But the laughing Minne-hathA,
Heedeth not the woeful tale,
What cares laughing Minne-ha-ha,
For the corses In the waller
Give me back my Lena's ~tresses.
Let me kiss them once again;
She who blessed me With oaresses
Lies unburied on the plain.
Soldiers, bury here my Lena,
Place me also meath the sod;
Here we've lived and wrought together
CHoRUs-But the laughing Minne-ha-ha, 90.
Have they killed my Hans and Otis?
Did they find them in the cornl
Go and tell the savage wretches,
Not to STAY my youngest born.
Oh, my daughter, Jennie darltngt
Worse than death was Jennie's fate:
Nelson, when the troops were leaving,
Turned and closed the garden gate.
CHoRUs-But the laughing Minne-ha-ha. 90.
Faithful Fido! you the've left me:
Can you, Fido, tell me why,
God at once has thus bereft mef
All l ask Is now to die.
Yonder smoke was once my dwelling,
That Is all I've left Of home.
Hank l hear their fendish yelling,
As I homeless, childless roam!
CHoRUs-But the laughing Minne-ha-ha,
Heedeth not the mournful tale
What cares laughing Minne-ha-ha,
For the corses In tho valef
THE aRHAr SCARE.
That there Ii but . single step from the
sublime to the ridiculous il not more true
than that there Ii no tragedy, however
serious, but has its accompanying como.
dy. The massacre at New Ulm was fol-
lowed by a comedy 50 laughable that
when IL was over, and people were fairly
done trembling with fear, they were shak-
ing with laughter at the many ludicrous
incidents that could DO recalled. This
comedy came in the form Of q panic or
scare, which spread over Wisconsin, Iowa,
and Minnesota. The most curious and
remarkable feature Of this fright was
that the farther removed from the scene
Of the tragedy, tho greater seemed TO be
the panic Of fear; people living near New
Ulm, where the massacre took place, be-
ing comparatively calm and brave, and
remaining quietly at homo only taking
the ~precaution of keeping their firearms
In good condition, and either themselves
keeping q watch at night, or barricading
doors and windows, while the family dog
was depended upon to give the alarm il
Indians came that way; while in thickly
settled portions OF Wisconsin, where an
Indian was seldom or never seen, people
left their homes in hot haste, everything
in direst confusion, and without waiting
to gather anything together save the
most necessary articles of clothing, fiocked
into the nearest towns, where the women
would be huddled together, trembling
with fear, in the best quarters that could
be procured on short notice, while the
men bravely performed the duties of
sentinels and soldiers, where no enemy
other than the one produced by their W
fear and imagination could be found.
Shadows and posts were mistook for
sheeted ghosts, or, worse still, for savage,
blood-thirsty Indians.
In some places it was thought that all
the Indian tribes were about to gather
together and wage war upon the whites,
and by a strange fatality il seemed that
the first blow struck would fall on just
the particular locality where the fright
ened subject CHANGED to reside.
In the Chippewa country the absurd
rumor prevailed that the Sioux and Chip
pewas, lifelong enemies as they were,
We're about to band together, murder all
the whites, and possess their lands, houses,
and everything else. Just how this was
to be accomplished, NJ n stopped long
enough to inquire.
The Chippewas were afraid Of the Sioux,
and both Sioux and Chippewas, as well as
all other Indians in these states, were
afraid Of the whites, and in their alarm
they retreated as far back into the woods
as they could possibly go. Their absence
and unusual quietude only added to the
scare, as it was thought that they were
preparing for war and laying plans for a
general surprise.
The following racy account is from the
Eau Claire Free Press, published several
years since, and is the only article / re-
member to have seen in print in regard
to the greatest bloodless war with imagi-
nary enemies that aver took place in the
northwest.
81 suppose the organ Of caution or fear
was given to man as q very necessary
element in his composition TO guard
against danger, but when suddenly or I'M
duly excited, and especially from con-
cealed or imaginary evils, it sometimes
leads to ludicrous misrepresentation, or
fatal consequences. The very fact that
the danger is lily defined, or its point and
whence it is to come hid from view, al
ways invests it with indefnable dread.
and causes what are known as panics.
and panics, whether in monetary and
financial circles, in an army or in q com
munity, are generally fraught with very
serious evils. And the best disciplined
armies in the world are subject 10 the
malady. The first Bull Run was lost TO
us through a panic. The Bible often
speaks Of great armies suddenly stricken