Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1893-05-06
A SOLDIER HERMIT.
General Pleasonton's Life OF Utter Seciu-
sion In n Washington Hotel.

General Pleasonton's Life OF Utter Seciu-
sion In n Washington Hotel.
"Alone in great city; practically
hermit amid the throngs of the nations
capital; living life of comfort and con-
tentment, but life of seclusion and ex-
elusive retirement"
Such was the answer given in reply to
an inquiry few days ago regarding the
welfare and whereabouts of Major Gen
eral Alfred Pleasonton, whose name and
fame few years ago We're on the lips
of nine-tenths of the American people,
and the records of whose exploits as one
of the greatest cavalry leaders of our
late war would fill volumes of graphic
history.
Apparently in the full possession of all
his mental faculties, and with no serious
physical ailment, this man of genius, a
soldier of two great wars, and explorer
nearly fifty years ago of the then I'M
known domain of our great western ter
ritory-an Indian fighter of great re-
nown, a traveller whose face and figure
were at one time well known in every
court of all the great powers of the Old
World, a scholar, bon vivant, wit and
most companionable of all the agreeable
public men of his day-voluntarily be-
took himself to his private apartment in
a snug little hotel in the very heart of
Washington on May -, 1890, and has
not since been seen or talked with by,
all told, more than dozen of his fellow
beings. And, with two or three excep-
tons, those who have seen or talked
with him since that date have been of
those necessary to him in administering
to his personal wants.
There was Il bill pending in congress
to retire him as brigadier general. He
felt that so much as that recognition
was his due at the hands of the country
he had served SO faithfully. He had
been a major general in command of the
cavalry corps Of the Army of the Poto-
mac; he had fought the first real cavalry
fight of the war at Brandy Station, June
II, 1868, and then and there proved his
superior abilities as dashing and al
most invincible commander; had met
and thwarted the advance of the enemy
upon Gettysburg, holding Lees armies
in doubt and allegiance until Meade's in
fantry came up to fight the decisive bat
tie of the war. and had never been found
wanting when duty and patriotism re-
Quired his presence either in camp or in
the field.
The canvasback, the terrapin and all
the dishes he relished so highly in days
of yore have been abandoned, but he has
everything his appetite may crave, and
with good digestion waiting upon it he
eats to live and contentedly remarks
that he no longer lives to eat, In other
matters his habits are regular, for, like
clockwork, he gets all the daily papers,
keeping well posted regarding the affairs
of the world of which he is part and
parcel. but which he holds away off at
arms length. and with which he asso-
ciates as little as possible.
No one of the few who see him ever
thinks of asking him reason for this
most marvellous change in his manner
of living, for they know it would be
useless. In fact he has resented several
inquiries of that kind in such manner
as to show that they are extremely dis
tasteful to him. General Rosecrans
wrote to him about year and half
ago asking about his health and other
questions that any old time friend would
be apt to ask, but he did not answer the
letter for months. Washington Star.
Elizabeth City. n. C., has wonderful
freak of nature, it is claimed. in the shape
OF a live calf with a bulldogs head 1t is
further stated that the entire head has all
the formations of the bulldog.
In each wing of an ostrich twenty-six
long white plumes grow to maturity in
eight months. In the male these are pure
white, while those of the female shade to
eeru or gray The short feathers ara
plucked for tips, and each wing furnishes
seventy-five Of these.
The obtaining of tortoise shell involves
intense cruelty to the tortoise The crea-
turn is fastened to the ground and COW
eredAteund the shell with leaves and grass,
which are set alight. The heat forces the
scales of the shell to separate, and they are
then cut off with q knife. The reptile is
then released TO grow fresh scales.