The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-03-06
WHEELING WEST VA. THuRsDA 6 1884
THE RIVER ANN uARDoR BILL

THE RIVER AND MARDOR BILL. K
Undergoing t"Horixontal" Reduction
Quser PcnAfGn Case Guftcnu's Curse.
From our Special Correspondent aa&tSy
~ WASHINGTON, March s. The work on th
River and IIarbor bill goes on rathe
slowly. The Committee on Rivers ant
llarbora finds its task very serious one
The estimates Of the War Department cal
for some thirty.six millions, and the com
mittee desiring to cover the field with ter
or twelve millions find II very difficult
task. And the most difficult portion o
their work has not yet arrived. Now they
are sitting with closed doors, going ovel
the field In the privacy Of the committee
exclusively, and with nobody 10 ,nolest OF
make them afraid, Pretty soon they will
reach the end Of this work, and then they
must throw open their doors and ermi,
the hungry, members and their more
anxious constituents to rush Ina nd de-
lnaud that every creek In the county be
improved, every harbor deepened, and
every river given leveeI until lit cannot
overflow. Tho committee began with the
coest Of Maine; taking up theiharbors first
and following down around Florida,
through the Gulf O, Mexico, and thence
with a tremendous Jump up to the great
lakes, and over onto the Pacific Coast,
They will next go over the rivers, discuss.
Ing the needs Of each, and after this Is done
will open the doors Of the committee room
to hear arguments. ~ ~. ~ ~ .flJET
Whether they will be able to hold tho
bill down to anything like the BUNS they
originally anticipated is serious question.
They have made horizontal reduction"
Of fully ilty.6ve per cent in the sums esti-
mated by ethe; War. Department, which is
quite as ersy TO do ns 10 write bill making
q horizontal reduction in the tariff, but
how much Of this they can hold intact when
the. pressure for appropriations comes for
every creek and river and harbor and fish.
pond in the country is uncertain. It is
probable that the bill will grow to fifteen
millions before it is ended. G'@
lt}3 THE NORTHERN PACIFIC FORFEITURE.
"Do you expect the Northern Pacific
forfeiture bill to pass this Congress?' your
correspondent asked Of Congressman Cobb
yesterday as thatgentleman leaned thought.
fully oyer the railing surrounding the seats
in.the House while waiting for the session
to'beg;n. atfF I! tss "gr
,t"Yes, I do" answered" That is, l
think there Is little doubt OF its pag:age in
the House; at least."' i5 r RI 5-'1-.
sand as to tile Senate? ?" ~
II cannot be responsible for the S,nate,"
he laughed. " think though, that even
there the prospects OF it's passage arc very
good. The Senate ives canvassed on this
subject some time ago, and it wegi found
that bill Of this sort would probably pes.
How it will be now I do not know. i un.
derstand the railway people have been
very hard at work over there, though what
they have accomplished do not know"
'- a CURIOUS PENSION cAsE.
Among the4bils and cases Of various
kinds coming up before Congress there are
none with more interesting story than
House bills 1884 and $685. The first mem
toned bill is toremove the charge of dc.
sertion from the record Of Franklin Thomp-
son, alias s. E. F.seeleyS private soldier
in Company F. Second Michigan Infantry,
and to pay the said person the amount OF
back pay, bounty ty-and. allowance due him
(her) at the date Of his (her) alleged deser.
ton. From this 1t appears that franklin
Thompson afore1aid is a .'ner," and there
by hangs the interesting story. The person
in question, it appears, vas young girl
in Michigan when the war broke out, ana
became possessed OF desire 10 serve her
country ard ut the zane time probably to
have a little experience on her own ac.
count. Atany rate, abe enlisted in the
Second Michigan ( regiment, and with.
outa suspicion as to her sex, dressed in
male attire, was ordered with the
regiment to the field. I Passing with the
officers as q boy, she YVES given in many
cases lighter duties than her fellows, and
was an orderly at the battle Of Frcdericks.
burg; one ot the present members Of the
House remembering her as she carried
dispatches to and fro on the field, fearless
in the midst OF rebel bullets She served
two years sn the field, always at her post,
and honored by those with whom she [he)
associated, her Z SEX unexpected. Some
time after the battle Of Fredericksburg she
was. taken i'll from exposure and malaria,
and was ordered to the hospital. - This she
had always feared, ,for she realized that
there her sex must be discovered. 4 1
s.3tsl TIE RESULT. W M ~
The result was, 10 make q long story
short, that ahe deserted and returned home.
Reauming her proper. costume rs soon as
shs got outside the lines, she was cafe from
detection aud had no difficulty i q making
her way home. She soon tired, however,
Of the hum.drum OF ,homs life, aud resli.
zing that she might really be Of more use
in her own person rs nurse then as a SOL
dier. or orderly: Dhe soon returned to the
front, this time ,as nurse, and was for d
time engaged at Harper's Ferry and at
er,pointsin hospital work. At the CLOSE
Of the war. she returned home, and has
since told ,aome Of her experiences in the
work entitled "Nurae and Spy" The pres.
ent bills are, first to remove the charge Of
deeertion against her record, or rather the
record Of frank Thompson, aud to pay her
her: bounty and back pay, the second to
grant her 8 pension" ol twelve dollars "a
month. s5I. ~ SiSsgsY
ss dU1TEAu's CURSE. y: t..' q y " ",
It is singular thing that in Guiteau's
prophecy that'those having to do with his
trial would come to grief has been SO largely
realized In less than two years from the