The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1885-08-12

VI sotuc tiOuDicu DpSotu, btdt WIFI
mufiied "hush. hush," on the beacl
below.
What more was needed to produce
even in the soul of a stole, the pensive
mood, certainly nothing but the
voices of the feline knights, which soOn
came In a series of long-drawn no wis,
coming from a gloomy corner of the
old fort.
AS have said be fore, cat-fght by
moonlight is wonderful language OF
human emotions. Ii throws halo OF
solace around the lonely watch of death
bed; il is a balm for homesickness, and
adds ten per cent to the romance of any
love scene. But as | unused among the
ruins of the old fort, was neither dead,
hOmesick nor iOvesick; | was only
thinking of the sad history of this Poor
Old Niagara. So that is what the eat.
fight said to me, "Poor Old Niagara
And all day long as | have been wan
dering among its desolate old ruins ev
erything has seemed TO say to me "POor
Old Niagara
In the month of December 1872
the village, which was then called
Newark, was burned by the American
Army, and 1t seems never to have un-
earihed itself from the ashes. The old
Fort Alississaugua, which is now going
to decay, was built from the bricks of
the chimneys and ruins of the town af-
ter the cOnfiagration. The early histo-
ry of the place is strangely obscure, al.
though ii is known that from the time
of the first French discoveries, up to Its
destruction in 1913 it was the most inn
pOrtant town of Canada, and should be
to-day, for, having the advantage of a
fine harbor and being surrounded by
all of the resources necessary for the
growth of city, there seems to be no
reason why at this day she should be
caught mapping, but sucn is the case,
and like most of the Canadian towns i
have visited along the old frontier, Ma
CARA seems to have settled down to quiet
rest, careless of the future, and content
ed with dreaming over the eventful
days of the past.
Turn where you may, in this old wills
lage, and you stumble on to some inter-
esting relic. Just a little way out from
the town, on the bank of the river, are the
remains Of Old Fort George. 1t has but
little of warlike aspect left; nothing
but few slender hogs, who look as if
they had been besieged here since the
Revolution, are left to garrison the
place; but the heavy earthworks which
surround ii will remain for ages. half
a mile away, across the br Dad parade
ground stands the old barracks and
quarters which Were occupied by the
famous regiment of Buffers Rangers,
and on the inside of the old st. Marks
Church, is the following memorial of
their leader:
FEAR GOD; HONOR THE KING"
"Col. John Butler, his Majesty's com
missioner of Indian affairs; born in New
London, Province of Connecticut, lbs.
His life was spent hOnorably in the ser.
vice of the Crown. In the war with
France for the conquest, he was dis
tinguished at the battle of Lake George,
Sth Sept. 1855, and at the siege of Fort
Niagara, and its capitulation, 18th
July, 1853. In the war of l776, he took
arms in the defense of the unity of the
Empire, and raised and commanded
the loyal American regiment of Buffers
Rangers; died here 1896" And anoth-
er tablet in the same church is this:
"Lenerd Blanck, Deceased 6 August, L.
81" Among the many peculiar old
stones in the cemetery near the church,
are seen two ancient looking English
slabs, bearing the names of Chas. Nor |
rison and George Forsyth, which were
used, by the Americans in 1872 for meat |
blocks, still wear the marks of the axes,
as If they had been cut there but yester-
day. In this town the first provincial |
Parliament of Upper Canada met on the
18th of Sept. 1892, in the Send year of
the reign of King George LII.
But perhaps the most interesting and
spot i'm the vicinity of this
place, is Fort Niagara, standing on the
point just across the river.
A part of the 18th infantry are station
ell here, and one would hardly suspect
from the good condition of the place,
that this was one of the oldest forts on
the American continent. Within the
main enclosure are five strong stone
the foundations of which
were probably built by the French
Jesuits, early in the 18th century.
history tells us that as early
as 1858, posts had been established at
Niagara, at the Straits of
Mackinaw, and on the Illinois river.and
by some of the residents here it is
that the building called the
Castle, is the oldest French structure in
America. l think it hardly safe to
this an authentic history, but
we need not depend on legendary state.