The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-04-21
A KIND HEARTED GHOST.
Its Encounter with General Grant,
A Touching Story Of the War.

~
The campfres of General Grant
were lighting up the thick woods be-
You'd the Tennessee; the gunboats
were hurrying up the swollen river,
while the now and rains of February
turned to ice, and at the close of the
first day of the terrible battle at Fort
Donelson the sudden change of wealth
err brought to the soldiers agonles of
cold and suffering.
The fight lasted three long days.
Shot and shell were poured into the
Tennessee River, the gunboats driven
back with heavy losses, but Grants
fearless men kept up the siege until
fort surrendered. After the victory
the whole North was exultant. The
bells rang joyfulIy, and cannon shook
the New England cities and towns,
but, frozen and dying, hundreds lay
on the red snow of the battle field.
Mother Bickerdyke, the famous
Union nurse, had followed her sboys"
southwark, had blessed them as they
went out in the morning to battle,
made them barrels OF good Govern
ment coffee and as we'll as possible,
without houses or hospitals, prepared
for their return. This was her first
sight of the battle field, and she told
me that none afterward so oyercame
her.
After the wounded had been cared
for with all the small comforts she
had and the exhausted officers had
fallen asleep, somebody noticed a
bright light moving quickly over the
dark, deserted field. where the dead
were still lying, awaiting burial when
it should be light. One officer after
another looked out and word passed
down the line, go and see what it
is" General Grant himself, wrapped
in his blanket, stood outside his tent,
while his orderly followed the ghost
across the snow and the terrified men
huddled close together over the ter
rified men huddled close together over
the camp-fires whispering that the
spirits were walking about" Nobody
spoke aloud. The bitter wind whistled
across the broken fences and through
the icy rafting branches of trees as
the orderly returned.
well said he to the General, sit
is only Mother Bickerdyke, sir, with
her big lantern; here she comes.n
General Grant touched her on the
shoulder as she came up and asked in
a low voiee:-'.Is anything wrong,
mother?"
s4Oh, nor she replied; "but you see,
General, after l got the poor fellows
bound up, and full of warm broth and
coffee, | couldn't some way feel salts
fed till | vas sure, by my w eye
sight, that nobody WAS lying out there
in the cold and dark, alone and alive,
this awful night; so I've just looked
lem all over and made sure-but they
are dead, quite dead, poor boys!"
She swung her lantern bravely along
toward her row of tents, while General
Grant, worn and haggard, wrapped
his blanket about him and said to a
staff officer close by:-s.So that's the
ghostl / wish the country vas full of
just such."1W Wide Aaodke.
The Mission of Educated m
Generous recognition Is at once
given of the beauty of the possible,
home and of the power and impor-
lance of the woman who creates it;
but that this is woman's only field is
emphatically denied. There are now
ODCIlb w IlCI lCbll OlcblllCk6 IOQ
which she can influence the a and
the question is raised as to whether
the advantage in this respect is alto
gether on the side Of the married wo-
man. Two or three of the older
women in the group, who have had
long and varied experience as teachers,
ask il it is not probable that among
the many children who have come
into their hands there are not some,
| at least, who owe more to their school
| environment than to the home life.
They claim that they, as teachers,
should be credited with the influence
which. in the nature of things, is in
separable from the responsibility
which is put upon them
ITO u.s. they say, 'sand not to the
already overburdened wife and
mother, is given the power to lead
and direct the youth of the race
Would you have us, with that in
view, aim for anything less than the
best2 The education of English and
American children is, in the main, in
the hands of women, and this is not
because of an anomalous social con-
dition, but because of their peculiar
fitness tor the work. On Mr.. Aliens
own showing these ome should re-
main unmarried, and. if this involves
a sacrific on their part, it is left for
him to show us that such sacrifice is
ignoble, or in any sense threatening
to the public welfare. Popular SGD
| enc Monthly.
vassar Girls for Ohicers.
1t is said that Vassar graduates
make the best presiding officers to be
had for women's organizations. That
institution enjoys a plethora of all
sorts of clubs. whose meetings are
always conducted with great formal
ity and with strict regard to parlia-
mentarv rules. A Vassar girl, there
fore, gets a fine experience in such
matters.
"Didn't Wash Episcopalian Sheep"
The following is a true story, and is
we'll worth printing:-Two young la
dies Of this city were DESTROYS Of join
ing one of the prominent Episcopaliar
churches, but as they had been
taught that immersion was the frue
form Of baptism, they wished, or
joining themselves to the church, tt
be baptized in that manner. They
y 4 - -