Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1894-09-27
ACCIDENT IN HISTORY.

ACCIDEN ! TN FlS UNI
In his wonderful sketch of the battle
of Waterloo, drawn with touches as
bold and masterful as the crayon
strokes in one of Angeles cartoons,
Victor Hugo describes the fate of the
world as hanging on the nod Of a peas
ant. When Napoleon was examining
the ground on which the English forces
were awaiting his attack, he searched
every spot carefully with his glass,
but failed to discover the sunken road
of Ohain, which did not make so much
as ripple on the hillside, 50 com
pletely was it hidden from view.
Turning to the guide, peasant Of the
neighborhood, he asked if there was
any obstacle to the advance of cavalry.
The guide shook his head. The cav
airy were ordered to charge. They
did so, and Hugo says that 1000 horses
and | 800 men were buried in the
sunken road. This he declared to be
the beginning of the long list Of disas-
ters which determined the fate Of Ma
poleon at Waterloo. Had the guide
nodded instead of shaking his head,
the cavalry might have been ordered
forward by another route, and the for
tune of the French Emperor and the
history of the world might have been
changed. As though, however, to
counterbalance this, the same writer
saws that had the little cowboy who
acted as guide to Butcher advised HIM
to debouche from the forest above
Frischemont rather than below Plan
chenoit, the shaping of the nineteenth
century would have been different.
Both incidents are probably apocry-
phal, for only one authority, and he
by hearsay, speaks Of the Blucher cow
boy, and the existence Of the sunken
road of Ohain is disputed by several
who boldly assert that there was no
such road at the point indicated; but
eitherincident is significant, as showing
by what trihes the course Of history is
DETECTED.
Jefferson was fond of telling a story
which illustrates in a forcible manner
the Importance that absurdly insignit-
icant matters may sometimes assume.
When the deliberative body that gave
the world the Declaration of Independ-
ence was in session itsproceedings were
conducted in a hall close to which was
situated livery stable. The weather
was warm, and from the stable came
swarms Of flies that lighted on the legs
of the honorable members, and, biting
through the thin silk stockings then IN
fashion, gave infinite annoyance. 1t
was no uncommon sight, said Jefferson
to see a member making speech with
large handkerchief in hand and
pausing at every moment to thrash the
flies from his thinly protected calves
The opinion of the body was not unan'
imous in favor of the document, and
under other circumstances, discussion
might have been protracted for days
if not weeks, but the flies were intol,
erable. Efforts were made to find an
other hall, free from the pests, but IL
vain. As the weather became warmer
the flies grew worse, and the mapping
of haudkerchiefs was heard all over
the hall as an accompaniment to the
voices of the speakers. In despair
at last, some one suggested that mat,
ters be hurried so that the body might
adjourn and get away from the files
There were few mild protests, but nc
one needed them, the immortal decla'
ration was hurriedly copied, and with
handkerchiefs in hand fighting flies az
they came, the members fastened "
to the table to sign the authentic copy
and leave the flies in the lurch. Hac
it not been for the livery stable anc
its inmates, there is no telling wher
the document would have been com
pleted, but it certainly would not have
been signed on the Fourth,
Two historians of the time OF Henry