davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04
Facing Death.

For year past the country has been
deeply concerned about the health of
General Grant. Since the injury to
his hip, year ago, the reports of his
condition have not been reassuring.
Latterly, fresh troubles of a very seri-
Gus character have assailed him, still it
was not generally understood that his
life was Immediately endangered. With
the opening of the present week, alarm
ing reports respecting the generals
prospects of long holding out against
the ills that afflict him have been made
public. The reports are not rumors,
the newspapers say, but statements of
painful facts by the members of Gen
eral Grants family and by his physi-
clan. His health is completely shat
tered. 1t is believed he will never go
out again, and that death must shortly
ensue. The following statement of
his condition is given to the public, and
is based, it is said, on trustworthy au-
thority: Notwithstanding the rose
coloredreport of General Grants health,
recently given in medical journal, the
truth is that General Grant is very
sick man, and his death apparently not
far distant. The public has no concep-
physical system. 1t is hoped that the
affection of the tongue may not prove
fatal, but there is as yet no appearance
that it is not the development of ma
lignant and fatal disease. Although
somewhat better now than some weeks
ago, the enlarged and inflamed tongue
continues, making it painful to speak
or swallow fluids, the only nourishment
he can take. In addition to this dis
tressing malady, General Grant is ter
rible sufferer from neuralgia, and il
seems to have taken possession of his
whole system. He has had most of his
teeth drawn to lessen neuralgia torture,
and his injury in the hip, caused by his
fall year ago, is still the source OF
great suffering and forbids physical ex.
ercise. 1t is a fact that should nc
longer be concealed from the country
that General Grant is rapidly breaking
down, and apparently without hope OF
reaction, and unless there should be
some unexpected relief, he will not b,
long among the living. He is wonder
fully patient and accomplishing, ant
he profoundly appreciates the expires
sions of sympathy which have beer
called out by his recent appalling mis-
fortunes. He works every day will
bandaged head and an unremitting paiI
to finish his military autobiography O.
history of the war, and hopes to com
plete it this spring. The first volum,
is entirely finished, but not revised
and the second volume is more thar
half done. He has not taken the tim
to revise the first volume because o
his apprehension that he may not b.
able to finish his second volume" I'm
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04
Military versus Civil Justice.

General Swain, judge advocate gen
eral of the army, first gained national
fame as the friend and attendant of
Garfield after the assassination. He
has since been known to the public in
quite another character. Certain GRIM
inal charges have been made against
him, upon which he has been tried by
court-martial. Among other things, it
was charged that he had made de-
post with Bateman e. Co., bankers in
Washington, drew out the greater part
of the money covered by the certificate
which he held, and then transferred the
certificate for its full value to third
party. He was further charged with
having made an untruthful report of
this transaction to the secretary of war.
The court-martial found him guilty,
but endeavored to disguise the rank
ness of his offence by characterizing as
wrong" deliberate attempt to
commit fraud, and as uncandid and
evasive" the false statement of the
affair made to his official superior. In
stead of finding the offending general
guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer
and gentleman, the court finds him
guilty of conduct prejudicial to good
order and military discipline. Having,
by jugglery and quibbling, palliated
wrong-doing and reduced the grade of
his offence, the court sentenced the ac-
cused to a suspension from duty, rank
and pay for three years. This for a
crime for which the sentence of a
civil tribunal would have been a long
term of years in prison at hard labor.
The sentence was so inadequate that the
president, by the advice of the attorney
general, refused to confirm it. The
court then contrived a sentence that
the president found impossible of exc
cution, and, after third effort, sen.
fenced Swain to suspension of duty
for twelve years on half pay. That is
for an offence that would condemn q
civilian to the society of felons for g
period of years, a high army officer is
awarded furlough, on half pay, fol-
twelve years. He may travel in Europe
or enjoy his elegant leisure wherever
he listeth, and at the end of his periot
of suffering go on the retired list al
three-fourths pay. This is justice as adj
ministered by a court-martial. Rather
than have the proceedings come entirely
to naught, the president reluctantly ap
proved the sentence, severely remark
ing that the courts idea of justice
"would seem to come from an inver
sion of the proper relations of public
offices and those holding them"
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04

speakably sad are the feelings which
these tidings of the approaching disso-
luton of the first citizen of the Nation
awaken. They bring with them an OPP
pressive sense of some impending per-
sonal calamity of the most momentous
nature. The grim heroism and zeal
with which he is making with death a
race against time for the goal of his last
ambition, shows that the qualities devel-
oped in great career are undimmed by
physical infrmities and mistaken in
the very grasp of death. Pathetic and
touching beyond expression is the
spectacle of the broken fortunes of the
sturdy character with whose name we
instinctively associate the crisp and in
spiriting legends that came from Don
elson and the Wilderness, the memories
of glory and magnanimity linked with
Shiloh and Vicksburg, Richmond and
Appomattox.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04

In a ringing letter in reply to COM
munication from the advocates of con-
tinued silver coinage, President-elect
Cleveland takes positive ground in
favor of the suspension of further coin
age of standard silver dollars. His let
ter is clear and outspoken, displaying
a comprehensive understanding of the
dangers of the present financial situa-
ton. The letter is roundly applauded
by the republicans and wrathfully de-
nounced by the silver fanatics. Rep
resentative Horn eulogizes its "mag-
nificent common-sense " and Senator
Mitchell approvingly offered to read it
in the senate, but was estopped by a
surly objection from a democrat. On
two measures, civil service and finance,
Mr.. Cleveland is very satisfactorily on
record.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04

TO-DAY has ended one of the wisest
and best, most clean and honorable, adj
ministrations that has held power dur
ing the twentv-four years of the repub-
lican regime. The circumstances of
President Arthur's accession to the
presidency are not forgotten. The
true nobility of his nature, his modera-
ton, tact and honor disarmed preju-
dice and conquered enemies. His ap-
pointments to Office have, as whole,
been good, and in many instances have
been conspicuous for their great excel
lence. His support and recommends
ton of just and important legislation,
and disapproval of unwise and danger
Gus measures, have been as indepen-
dent and fearless as he has been clear
and right in the positions he has taken,
while his singleness of purpose to ad-
minister the government as great and
responsible trust, the genial dignity and
propriety of his bearing and the social
amenities which have gilded his admin
istration, have won for him the respect,
confidence and goodwill of the entire
country. The unwelcome reflection his
exit from Office eXcites is regret that
the party to which he belongs had not
been sufficiently united and forgetful OF
old feuds to have made possible his
continuance in power for another term
All good wishes to ex-President Ar.
thur!
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04

For it we are indebted to the New
York Evangelist, to which we express
our hearty thanks. A glance at this
map will make ineligible the re-
ports of operations in that distant
and unfamiliar country. Cut it out
and preserve it for future reference.
The history of the present war, briefly
told, is as follows: In May, 1881, Ma
homet Ashmet of Dongola announced
himself as the Mahdi, Directed of
God" whose mission it was to regener-
ate Islam. The new prophet enlisted
the people of the Egyptian Soudan in
his service. Kordofan and the neigh
boring provinces joined his standard,
and the iusurrection against the Egyp-
tan government burst forth with great
fury. The governor of the Soudan was
unable to smash the Mahdi " and the
khedive sent against him an expedition
under the English General Hicks, or
Hicks Pasha, which was utterly ami
hilated at Ell Obeid, toward the end of
1888. Another army under Baker Pasha,
was routed at Ell Teb, between FL Obeid
and Khartoum, and, like Hicks Pasha,
Baker persisted, with the greater part of
his troops. The remnant of the Egyp-
tan forces took refuge in Khartoum,
which the Mahdi besieged. AT this
point, England became concerned for
the safety of Egypt. English capital
lists hold several hundred millions of
Turkish and Egyptian bonds. Turkeys
ability to pay her interest depends, in
part, upon the tribute she exacts from
Egypt, so that England's powerful pc
cuniary interest in the land of the Pha-
raohs is her reason for interfering with
the Mahdi, who had begun to threaten
the security for the payment of the
bonds she holds. The English minis
try proposed to abandon the Soudan
and encounter the Mahdi, if he should
prove intractable, further north. The
problem that first presented itself was
to withdraw the garrisons at Khartoum
and other points north on the Nile, and
at Kassala, east of Khartoum, on the
March. The English believed that Gen
eral Gordon, who for five years before
1879 had been governor and governor
general of the Soudan, could pacify the
Mahdi and successfully evacuate Khar'
toum. In obedience to popular
clamor, the ministry sent him on this
mission. January "a, 1884, he arrived
on his peaceful errand at Cairo. His
route was up the Nile by railway tt
Assiout, thence by steamer to Korosko
A four days. ride on camel, almost
unattended and unarmed, took the adj
venturous general across the Nubiar
Desert to Abu Hamed, and on the 1Stl
of February, by way of the Nile, HI
reached Khartoum. The story of hi
long blockade and heroic resistance
till he was betrayed and slain when re
lief was near at hand, has been told il
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04

GLADsToNE's Egyptian policy is sus-
tanned by the house of commons. On
the motion of censure, the old premier
carried the day by a majority of four
teen. The conservatives worked the
tragedy at Khartoum for all it was
worth. Denunciation and unsparing
invective were hurled at the ministry,
yet with every powerful advantage
stretched to its utmost tension, Glad
stone is victorious by a safe, though a
small, majority. This vote marks the
food-tide of the opposition. On no
other question can it command the
strength it had worked up on the mo-
ton to censure.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04
Notes and Comments.

A RAILROAD company ran two cars
between Memphis and Covington, one
of them for white persons and the
other for negroes. The one assigned
to blacks was practically the smoking
car, to which the whites and the blacks
alike were in the habit of resorting for
smoking and drinking. Ida Wells, a
colored teacher, took her seat in the
white car and was forcibly removed.
She sued the company, and the court
held that she was wrongfully elected,
because to her was refused the first
class accommodations for which she had
paid in the purchase of her ticket, and
to which she was entitled under the
law. The jury gave her judgment to
the amount of five hundred dollars.
THE Christian Union'S Washington
correspondent says Speaking of Mr.
Blaine reminds me to say that his house
may be called the republican headquar-
tiers, as at his numerous parties and re-
ceptions nearly all the leading men OF
the party are to be found. Mr.. Blaine
takes an active interest in what goes on
in congress. He is always consulted
regarding any party moves at the Capt.
toll, and the history of the conferences
held in his library would throw interest
ing light on the inside politics of thi,
winter Mr.. Blaine is regarded by his
admirers as the sure republican candi
date four years hence, and he himself
takes the position that this is his due.
On the other hand, the New York San
Mr.. Blaine's efficient helper in the late
canvass, says: "Candor requires us tC
state that since the election Mr. Blaine
does not seem to have been growing il
the affections of the republican party
As the Hon. Amos Townsend of Cleve
land expressed it, the other day, to hi
friend and relative, George Alfred
Mr.. Blaine's day is past for the pres
ent. He has been at two or three con
ventions and has finally receiveda nom
nation. Although he made strong
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04

THE WATCHMAN goes to press toe
early to give President Cleveland's in
augural. If it is as good as his civil
service and silver letters, it will keeI
for another week. Rumor gives the
following as his cabinet: Secretary Of
state, Thomas F. Bayard of Delaware
secretary of the treasury, Daniel Man
ming of New York; secretary of the in
terror, L. @. G. Lamar of Mississippi
encouragement, Augustus II. GarlanC
of Arkansas; postmaster-general, w
F. Villas of Wisconsin; secretary of thu
navy, William G. Whitney of New
York; secretary of war, William G. En-
dicott of Massachusetts.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04
GHattbmam 4 Journal.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH A, 1885.
COMMENTING upon a recent decision

COMMENTING upon recent decision
by Philadelphia judge in will case,
the Christian at Work well remarks
"The tendency to accept all that a will
bestows, while ignoring the prescribed
conditions, is so marked that it is re-
freshing to see the courts guard the
rights of legators when, asleep under
the daisies, they are powerless to assert
their own rights. There is, at times,
no better evidence of the progress of
civilization than the fidelity with which
it protects the posthumous rights of the
dead.n
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04

run, the presidential term is sufficiently
long to make any sagacious party want
to economic its opportunity No doubt
this utters the presentfeeling of the most
intelligent republicans. But there is no
great use in discussing the chances of
future candidates for the presidency
until Mr.. Cleveland has been in office
year or So"
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04

before she can complete her senatorial
representation, and will also incur the
risk of the choice of democrat. The
unfortunate state of things in Oregon
and Illinois seriously threatens the re-
publican majority in the United States
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04

THE Oregon legislature has adjourned
without electing United States SEN
ator The republicans had majority
in both branches of the general assem-
bly,, but petty rivalries and fractional
iealousies prevented them from uniting
upon candidate. The right of the
governor to appoint, under the circum-
stances, is not entirely beyond dispute,
but the governor, who is republican,
will undoubtedly appoint successor to
Slater, democrat, whose term expired
yesterday. Unless an extra session is
called and an election made, the APP
pointment would hold for two years.
The next state election would naturally
turn on the senatorial contest and the
narrow republican majority might be
wiped out. There is no present hope
that the deadlock in Illinois will be
broken. With their full strength the
republicans lack one of a majority, and
there is no likelihood that a democrat
can unite the opposition. The death of
republican member is reported. BY
absenting themselves the republicans
will be able to deprive the joint assem-
bly, of quorum, it is said, and in this
way prevent the election of democrat
The governor has the power to appoint
if vacancy occurs while the Legislature
is not in session. AS the legislature
will probably be in session March 4th
when the vacancy occurs, unless il
makes choice Illinois will have to
await the issue of another state election
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04
The Seat of War.

An excellent map of the seat of war
in the Soudan, intended for our last
issue, arrived too late for that occasion.
1t is, however, equally timely this week.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04

hundred miles southeast from Suakim,
on the Red Sea coast, in line nearly
east from Khartoum, is Massowah, the
base of the operations of Italy against
the Mahdi. From this point it was pro-
posed to relieve the Egyptian garrison
besieged at Kassala. Suakim and Mas
sowah are small and inconsiderable
ports, having about four thousand peo-
pie. Berber has a population of about
ten thousand. 1t is the great entire
pot of the Soudan export trade which
here leaves the river and makes its
way by caravan routes to Suakim.
Khartoum has between fifty thousand
and sixty thousand inhabitants, and is
the commercial center of the Soudan
trade, amounting to about sixty-fve
millions of dollars year.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04
A Policy of Revenge.

The Christian UniOn's Washington
correspondent, in recent letter, wrote
Senator Edmunds tells his friend
that he is seriously thinking of retirin
from the senate when his term expires
two years hence. He has grown oil
within the past three years, and think
of taking long rest and trip to Europe
His Vermont constituents have Ion
ago repented of their little burst of
anger at the lukewarm disposition he
showed toward Mr.. Blaine's cleo
ton, and are now writing him by
scores, begging that he will remain in
the senate. AS between
Mr.. Blaine and the president COM
plete personal, as well as political,
alienation has developed this winter.
The hostility thus engendered is
shown by them only in studied in
difference, but between their follow
ers it leads to mutual attacks re-
garding the future of the party, which
bodies no good to its unity. The presi-
dent believes that Mr.. Blaine de-
feated him for senator, as well as at
Chicago, while Mr. Blaine is fully
convinced that had the administra-
ton shown ordinary interest in last
falls campaign he would to-day be
engaged in the pleasanter, if not so
lucrative, task of writing an inaugu-
raj address instead of preparing the
second volume of his history"
Whether or not this correspondent
writes by authority, or from direct and
trustworthy information, his state
ments are unquestionably very near
the truth. We protest, however,
that the little burst of anger" of
which Senator Edmunds' " Vermont
constituents have long ago repent
ed,'' was very largely creature of
the imagination, unless an individual
here and there, whose political zeal
may have temporarily led his judg-
ment astray, or the incendiary Ian
guage of indiscreet partisans of aspi-
rants. for Senator Edmunds' office,
or the malicious earnings of the
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04

etail. The outline of events, in the
tempted relief of General Gordon, is
s follows: September II, 1884, Lord
arrived in Egypt and assumed
ommand of the operations Of the relief
Expedition, in which about ten thou
and troops were to participate. De-
ember 3, these troops were scattered
long the Nile south of Korosko, and on
he 10th Lord Wolseley reached Korti,
where the advance, under General Stew
lrt, was awaiting his arrival. On his way
Up the Nile, Wolseley heard of the as
at Merawe, of Colonel
Stewart, Gordon's associate in his mis-
zion, and whom he had sent down the
Nile with dispatches for the approach.
ng expedition. December 30, General
Stewart, with force of one thousand,
pushed forward from Korti towards
Metemneh. AT Gakdul, half way be-
tween Abu-Klea wells and Korti, he
awaited the arrival of re-enforcements.
January 16, having force of only fif-
teen hundred, he met and defeated
after severe battle, five times that
number of Arabs at Abu-Klea wells.
About two weeks later he fought
another battle, against terrible odds,
about twenty-five miles west of the Nile,
and finally established himself on the
river at Gubat, short distance above
Metemneh. In this battle General Stew
art received fatal wound After the
fall of Khartoum his little army re-
traced its course, pressed and har-
raised by swarms of Arabs, to Abu-
klea wells, where it entrenched till
aid came from Korti; thence to Oak.
dul, half way to Korti, and finally tc
the latter place. Concurrently with
Stewards march toward Metemneh
a force was sent up the Nile, under
General Earle, destined for Berbel
via Abu Hamed. At Brit, about
midway between Korti aud abb
Hamed, General Earle was killed il
leading an assault upon an Aral
fertilization. This column, having
-0oi reached beyond Abu Hamed, re
treated to Korti after the fall O
Khartoum, and at the former plac,
the English expeditionary force, un
. der Wolseley, is concentrating. TIL,
route by which the forces now gath
ering from England and India il
Egypt will undertake to penetrat
. the Soudan is by way of the Re,
II Sea to Suakim, thence across tn
=l5l desert two hundred forty miles t
. Berber. A railway is building owe
portion of this route, and grea
II preparations are making at Suakir
}, for landing troops and receiving SUP
q plies. The desert between Suakir
and the Nile is held by Osman Digna
brave and skillful general of tn
Fl Mahdi's, with whom the English,
year ago, at Sinkat and in the cour
vi try around Suakim, had sever;
III bloody engagements. Between tn
sea and Berber are mountainou
districts, which present formidabl
points for defence. The march thithe
u will be no holiday affair. About tire
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-03-04

Neutrality-suspicious. Morgan, an aged and
respected citizen, died on Friday. His
funeral was attended at the Congregational
church on Sunday, Rev. Mr. Howard Of
ficiating. - A passenger on the south
ward bound express, Thursday, fell from
the train, about a mile north of this station,
receiving no serious injuries. He was evil
IDENTIFY Intoxicated - John Flint, Syl-
vester Tracy and Marshall Chaffee are
added TO the list of sick persons. =- Rox-
bury has developed three aspirants for
federal offices under Cleveland's admins
tration. They are all good fellows and will