Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1897-09-16
SHOT SIXTY SOLDIERS
m SIXTY MINUTES.

on earth to-day 10 Lamar Fontaine
Of Mississippi.
/ This statement sounds like a.
cxsggeration, despite it's homcl,
conventionality, but when some ol
the adventure and romance and
tragedy that are crowded into hil
life is told it will be seen that the
words applied to him are not mis-.
used or too strong to set forth
lhrieay- his dsseription- :.
or medium height. spare but 81.
newy. high cheek bones denoting
courage and recklessness, gray eyes
that are dreamy and wistful when
the temperament is calm and in re-
pose, but blazing with q furious
light under the excitement Of recol-
lection, hands that are delicate as n
woman's in construction, but twist
ed and guarded from the hard use
to which they had been put, voice
that 10 musical and soft, lips thin
and straight cut, and a heavy
growth OF hair and beard that are
just beginning TO be streaked with
gray--these are the characteristics
of Lamar Fontaine.
There is a suggestion Of the cav
alier in his combination of name.
IL embodies memories of the knight
ly deeds Of the early Southerner
and bespeaks q commingling of the
best blood of Virginia, Maryland
and the Carolinas.
Though with the weight Of 6S
years piled upon his shoulders and
the scars of 67 bullet wounds mark.
ing his slight frame, he is neither
bent or misshapen.
MIR. Fontaine's adventurous life
began at the early age Of 10 years.
At that age he was captured by CO.
manche Indians in Texas and borne
off by these savages to their retreat
in The vicinity of whs. s now Sioux
City, 10. For four ssars they kept
him captive. Then the band made
it's way south to New Mexico, and
he made his escape across 720 miles
of sun baked desert between the
Wild country and the capital of
Texas and again resumed the garb
and habits of civilization. An un-
Gle, Mirabeau Lamar. was then Pres
ident of the Texas Republic, which
had been wrung from Mexico only
a few years before. He remained
with his uncle at Austin two years,
and then was transferred to the
care of another relative still more
famous-Commodore Maury, who
mapped the trackless seas. For
more than ten years he was the
amanuensis Of this great sailor, ac-
companying him on all his voyages
and assisting him in his wonderful
work which has bestowed benefit
upon ocean navigation that has not
yet been fully realized by the world.
1t was during this experience that
nc eircumnavigated the globe, 'go-
ing everywhere, as he describes it,
that ship drawing 10 feet of water
could enter, and crossing every con-
tinent either horseback, mnleback,
camelback or afoot.
From 1857 to 1860 Mr. Fontaine
was secretary Of the American lie.
cation in Nicaragua. His kinsman,
President Lamar, was United States
Minister to that country during
most of this period. He was in
Nicaragua when the .smolderine
embers of war were famed into red
furious flames In the United States
and he hasteped home to throw
himself into that conflict. It was
during these four years Of tragedy
that Fontaine's adventurous spiril
got full play and he made recort
for individual dsring and heroisn
unsurpassed by any knight of ole
and unimagined by any writer o.
fiction.
He bears with him on his travels
certificate from General Rober
+. Lee testifying that Fontain,
shot aud killed 60 Federal soldier
in 60 minutes, and another not
from Stonewall jackson couche,
in this startling language:
"I believe that during his seryic
with me as sharpshooter Lama
Fontaine killed more of the enem
than were killed by any compan
in my command"
Colonel Fontaine vas in st. Loui
this week enronte to the ex-C Confed
crate renniori ak Nashville. Tenn