The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-08-02

shipment Of a cargo of 300 New England
girls from New York to the Pacific coast
in 1865. The scheme was originated and
successfully accomplished b. A. S. Mer-
Ger, who is now an editor and proprie-
tor of a newspaper in Cheyenne. A
young man of twenty-six at the time
Of that adventure. he now looks back
upon it as the noteworthy achievement
of his life. and few days ago he gave
detailed account of it to a correspondent
of the Examiner.
Il overloaded myself with girls" said
Mr.. Mercer, land broke my back finan-
cially, but from every other point of
view the expedition was a success. The
results were notably good. Today many
of those New England girls are the lead
ers Of society in the Puget sound coun-
try. They are wives and mothers in
many Of the wealthiest and best famil-
les of Seattle, Olympia and other towns
of the state. So far as 1 can learn. all
but one Of my cargo got married soon
after reaching the coast
I'm Washington territory thirty years
ago,
There was lack Of woman's nursing,
There was dearth of womanS tears
III ldCls tic MOIltu were IlOl llcIc "
nurse or cry. There were few real
homes because there Were few women.
The sturdy blows of the axman, the work
of the pioneer farmer, the labors of the
lone fisherman, were all unrelieved by
the cOmpanionship, ministrations, trans
forming hand of woman. Western Wash
ington was a dense forest jungle. The
population was largely made up Of lum-
bermen, from Maine and the provinces,
with an influx OF men from the southern
and middle states. The great forests,
the mighty rivers and lofty mountains
had just begun to yield their treasures.
Men alone were hewing the pathway of
empire. The dual touch of humanity,
the composite forces which make the
perfect civilization were lacking.
L was president of the Washington
territorial university, then just COM
pleted and with but few students. 1
went through the territory, visiting log
ging camps and settlements, to awaken
an interest in school matters Seeing the
need of teachers, l arranged for bringing
out thirty school ma ans from Massa-
chusetts. The acquisition was hailed
with delight. The only trouble was that
they were too promptly grabbed up and
married off; but the experiment was so
successful that 1 began to have visions
of the greater scheme. The women were
pleased with their reception and good
fortune, and enjoyed the new life which
they had entered upon. l brought out
the school teachers in May, 1864. In the
spring of 1865 l determined TO attempt
the importation of women on large
scale
Historical parallels are not wanting
in the record of similar enterprises -
said Mr.. Mercer. THE Romans cap
tured the Sabine women and made them
wives. The London colony sent TO Nir-
ginia in 1881 ninety maidens to become
wives Of the jamestown settlers. In the
early days of the settlement of Quebec
France sent out a shipload of young
women to Canada. All these expert
ments resulted happily. and. full of en-
thusiasrn, L started for New York with
the great plan in my mind. L arrived
there in 1865. My plan was TO leave
for Washington the next day and inter
est President Lincoln in the idea.
had conned over a nice little speech to
make to him, referring to the fact that
the war over, and that he had a
large number of idle transports and
steamers. and that / had use for one of
those steamers in a good cause. would
say: The war has made. thousands of
widows and orphans. We have a world
OF young men of good. enterprising
character in the Puget sound country
and we want to bring out 500 women
from the East. Give me a u. S. vessel
and men to manage il. / will furnish the
coal and provide for the provision and
other expenses, and guarantee the best
results / had letters from the school
! teachers who had gone to the coast, and
/ from prominent men of Washington and
| Oregon.
THAT night came the fearful news
! that shocked the whole civilized world
the assassination Of President Lincoln
7 III
went to Boston to lay the scheme before
/ John A. Andrew, the great war COVER
nor. The governors office was besieged
by men interested in various war mat
tiers, army officers, freedmen's agents.
contractors etc, and l had great difficult
/ ty in procuring an interview. The third
/ day 1 gained access to the governor, who
/ received me very cordially, and when
/ had explained my enterprise to him he
said at once, very heartily, It's a good
thing and L will aid you in every way
/ possible.
"He gave me the entree TO his office
/ at all hours, and stated that owing to
/ the pressure of public business he could
not give the personal attention TO the
| mater he desired TO. But said the
| governor, I will give you a letter to a
| friend Of mine. who will help YOU
''Hc then gave me letter OF introduce
| ton to the Rev. Edward Everett Hale,
/ asking him to interest himself in the
matter. Mr.. Hale gave me a pleasant
/ reception, and we spent the evening to-
/ gether, talking over the subject in its
/ various phases. The result was that
/ he pledged himself to cooperate with
me, which he did in very peculiar way
/ the next Sunday.
II strolled into the church before
the services had begun and took a seat
in the central part Of the audience room.
/ One of the ushers came and said that
/ Mr.. Hale wished to speak to me.
/ walked up the aisle, and Mr.. Hale came
| down the steps. grasped me by the hand
and led me up on the platform. The
/ church was rapidly filling at this time,
and we sat and talked together until the
/ opening exercises, when l found myself
| cOrralled.
/ THE preacher announced the text of
his sermon from Genesis /, rs: 'Replenish
/ the earth and subdue it, and occupied
/ about fifteen minutes in an eloquent dis
! course when he closed abruptly and an
nounced TO the large audience that a
/ gentleman from the Pacific coast was
| present who would address them on the
subject which he had introduced.
ut is needless to say that 1 was about
paralyzed. 1 gathered myself together
as we'll as I could, my knees shaking,
and the audience assuming an indefinite
haze before my eyes. 1 was angry, too.
/ Probably that fact saved me, and 1
! talked over an hour, but / knew from
| the crowd that gathered around me at
| the close Of the meeting that / had
awakened enthusiasm in cultivated,
classic Boston in favor of my under
| taking. At this point 1 considered the
| ENTERPRISE successfully launched