The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1885-01-29
Tom OchiItree on Sound Sleeping.

Il see that Representative Hewitt
cannot sleep on account of the barking
of dogs" said Col Tom Ochil.ree yes
terilay, as he rechned in an easy chair
at Ciamberin's. Il hardly know how
to sympaIhize with the distinguished
gentleman from New York continued
the incarnadined Texan, .'for all the
dogs in Christendom and CONSTANT
pie is we'll could not keep ME awake if
| wanted to sleep. Whv sir, at the
siege of Petersburg ] slept soundly for
eight hours right under the carriage of
afOrty-rOund cannon that was being
I fired every five minutes. Yes. sir; and
the gunner said snOred SO loudly that
he could scarcely hear the orders that
were given him between the shots.
| Why, sir, on one occasion while L was
travelling through Guadalupe County,
Texas. | stopped ut piece of thick
woods at dark, staked my horse, built
4 fire. and lay down. That's bad
wolf country. and by 10 U'clOck there
were 1000 of the savage devils howing
around me within fifty feet of my camp
lire. | spread my blanket on the grass.
fixed my saddle for u pillow, and lay
down with 4 navy revolver in each
hand. ln two minutes | was asleep,
dreaming that was in Paris. When
| awoke the next morning the sun was
high in the heavens. A neighboring
ranchero told me the wolves had howl
ed till dayl ght. Sixty OF them were
| found dead in the bushes. They had
died from prolonged bowling, while
had slumbered gently. like babe. on
the breast of my mother earth. Think
of that, and then of Congressman
whose Nightmares are interrupted by
| the midnight whining of greengrocer ;
! dog.
why, Tom Benton used 10 sleep so
! hard that hotelkeepers had TO break in
his door to see if he was not dead. Ben
| Butler cannot ride in a street-car with
out doing. In flying ride down the
Shenandoah Valley, Stonewall Jack
son. strapped to his saddle. slept for
six hours with his horse at a sweeping
gailop, Il courier holding the'guide-rein.
| Napoleon snatched slumber for a mo-
meni as his cavalry thundered by with
| in few feet of him at Austerlitz. Yet
here is Il lusty statesman who cannot
even enjoy Il cat-nap because q sad and
lonely cur around the next corner
| crawls out of his kennel to bay the
moon, Gentlemen" continued the ru-
bics nd Texan. Il have driven an OK
wagon from Sabine Pass to FL Paso,
have ridden steer from Caddo Lake
| to Bagdad, and have ridden a mule
| from the San Jacinto to the Cibolo.
have slept in the eternal pine forests of
| Eastern Texas, with the deadly taran-
tulas crawling all over me and the rat
tlesnakes kissing in my ear, but if have
ever lost fifteen minutes sleep since |
quit tecthing, then, by the horned frog
of Texas, 10 not know it! Why, gem
tlemen, there is not Capital in all
Europe in which L am not famed as a
sound sleeper. On my last visit to
Paris, my friend, the Count de Lafay-
ette, with some associates, got up de-
vice to break my slumber. They rig
ged up an automatic sheet-iron cat and
| placed it on my window-sill at the
Hotel lie Vendome. where it yowled
and scratched at the window pane for
hours. Well. sir, what do you suppose?
hope that Santa Anna may rise up
and make conquest of Texas if
| that sheet-iron cat didn't get so dis
gusted by midnight that it jumped from
the window to the ground, ian around
the corner, and has never been heard
of sincer- Washington Republican.