The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-08-16
Whitley REDS NARROW ESCAPE
United states Fish Exhibit 1t Worlds
Fair-An m-Manered Society
Lady-A women's Club.

xA>SN to say ~ about b''r me s'i and
/ greatly admire his newspaper genius,
although We have not met since he was
serving as correspondent for the Cincin-
natl Commercial-Gazette with my army in
West Virginia. | remember that he used
TO write some mighty good letters at that
time on war topics, though was too busy
then to do anything more than skim such
of them as CHANGED to come under my eve.
Military affairs kept me pretty seriously
engaged, particularly the construction of
ITO miles of telegraph through a hostile
country, on which depended the commune
cation of intelligence of value altogether
beyond estimation.
Now, perhaps you can imagine my as
constituent when I picked up a copy of
the paper one afternoon and found in il
letter from the field of operations
signed w. r., which contained the re-
markable observation / am about to quote.
The dispatch was at considerable length,
written in admirable style, and was de
voted to a description of the intense and
hopeless ignorance and barbarism of the
natives in that region. By way of illus
tration, the author said: so absolutely
stupid are these people that it has actu-
ally never occurred to them, although
they are such bitter foes to the Northern
cause. to cut the telegraph wires run
through their territory for the use of our
army
Il sent an orderly to fetch Mr.. Reid
Whitley, the boys used to call him-and
/ said TO him: DO you know that ought
to have you shot?'
''Reid looked rather unpleasantly sur
prised at that. and so / added:
apparently you don't realize what
you have done. Here is letter of yours
which / have been reading. You might
just as well have stood on top of tall
tower in Cincinnati and shouted through
a trumpet big enough and loud enough to
be heard in Richmond: "Why don't you
cut Rosecrans' telegraph" Upon my
word. don't know how to deal with your
case. Come over with me TO the quar-
tiers of the Judge advocate general
81 took him over to see the judge advo-
cate general of the department, to whom
I showed the letter clipped out of the
paper with the head lines and signature
cut off. Said /:
"'What ought to be done with the
newspaper correspondent who published
that? Shoot him?'
"The judge read it through gravely,
handed it back to me, and said:
"'No, wouldn't do that. You ought
to hang him.
al think you are right replied. Then
/ rode back to my own quarters with Reid,
and had very brief conversation with
him, saying:
al haven't decided, young man, which
shall be done with you. I'll see you in the
morning. Good nighti'
81 inquired for Mr.. Reid in the morning,
but he had left the camp for the North
some hours befo re on the fastest horse he
could obtain. | have never seen him
since"
Congressman Billy Mason, of Illinois,
told story the other day of a somewhat
remarkable experience he had not long
ago on a one-horse railway in the wild
and woolly West
There was only one passenger car" he
said, ''and it was full. So was the con-
ductor. At all events, l thought SO from
the manner in which he addressed me
concerning yalise by my side.
Take that thing into the baggage
car he remarked very peremptorily.
Il loo ked at him, somewhat surprised,
and without making any response.
"'Do you hear what l say2' he de-
manded.
"'Yes, do answered.
"He went away to collect some tickets
When he came back about ten minutes
later he looked angry.
81 thought l told you to take that
valise into the baggage car he yelled.
II heard you 1 responded mildly.
"'Then why haven't you done it?'
T 4 - 70
"'You don't eh?'
"'No. do not
1.-THE HI, you say he roared. sd
| have you know that I'm boss of this train.
| ard don't put up with impudence from
| no dudes. You snake that bag out of here
| right away or I'll chuck it through the
| window in just two minutes
| "At that moment We slowed up, ap-
| preaching a station, and the conductor
| went out on the platform. More passen-
| gers got aboard, and when he came back
| several persons were standing up in the
/ aisle. I Just sat still, wondering to have
| been called a dude for the first time in nv
| life.
WHAT shouted the ticket-puncher
| upon his return. You won't pay any at
tention to what | say, Ell? Well, here
| goesp
with that, he picked mp the valise and
! threw il out of the window. We were
I
| hour az the time. | said nothing, and a
| quarter of an hour later he came through
/ again and spoke to me. Evidently he had
/ been rejecting that possibly he had ex-
/ ceeted his authority.
81 wouldn't have done il, he said, half
| apologeticaily, only you riled me, and
| dlsciphne's got ter be maintained on board
| a train
"'oh, that's all right replied, with
| entire compoSure.
it?' he asked
about what?'
| "'Why, the bag
| "'Oh, nothing ! said.
But weren't its contents valuable?'
don't know, I'm sure responded.
You don't know?'
No / said. 1t wasn't my valise.'
My dear boy, you never saw a man so
/ totally habbergasted as that conductor vas
1 IN ali your born days. | got off at the
next station, and | haven't the slightest
| idea how he managed 10 fix things up
| with the owner of the bag. who had left It
| on the seat beside me while he went into
| the baggage car 10 smoke cigar"
4 very wonderful collection of animals
! that live IN the water is at present being
| manufactured by the United States fish
/ commission for exhibition at the Worlds
| falr IN Chicago. Somewhat less than 500
| specimens viii illustrate the food and
| other economic fishes and reptiles of this
| country, each one representing a species
1 Two experts, said 10 be the most skilflll
| men living in this line of work
/ are engaged in turning out counter
/ felt preSentmentS of things scalv
/ and nnnv IN the utmost Imaginable