Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1900-12-04
LovEWELL's FIGHT.
A wouLD-BE GOVERNOR THROWS A
FLOOD or DARKNESS UPON THE
FAMOUS BATTLE.

The "Illustrsted Magazine Section"
Of the Lewiston Saturday journal OF
November 8 has an article upon Frye
burg, from the pen Of Luther G. Bate
man, who was the candidate Of the Poo
ple's Party for governor Of Maine 10 1891,
1894 and 1895. The article ID such .
fArrsgo Of plumbers that Il reminds one
Of the famous editorial article on "The
Defensive Square Of Austrian Italy,"
(better known by IT. nickname title OF
the article on 1.-THE Elbows Of the
Mincio'D which william Henry Hurl-
but Of the editorial stan Of the New York
Times wrote for that journal when he
Was In bacchic state, and which ap-
peared In that Journals morning Issue OF
July 10, 1859. Hurlbut's comical article
stated that, ''if we follow up the course
Of the Mlncio, We shall nnd innumcrable
elbows formed by the sympathy OF
youth" and that Notwithstanding the
toll spent by Austria on the spot, We
should have learned that we are pro-
tccted by foreign neet suddenly COM
Ing up on our question OF citizenship y
While Mr.. Bateman's erroneous article
on Fryeburg contains no comical inco-
herencies like Editor Hurlbut's spirited
article In the Times, yet Il 10 safe 70 say
that, II he keeps on In the laundering
manner exempiifed In his Fryeburg ar
ticle. he will ere long be able TO write
something which will throw commun-
ity into 40 violent commissions OF laugh
ter ~ did Hurlbut's intoxicated article
OF forty-one years ago In the Times.
l will not take space To enumernte all
the blunders In Mr.. Bateman's article,
but will mention those which he makes
In what he says regarding Lovewelfs
Fight, the famous battle with the In
dams which .wss fought at Fryeburg.
He says that on the spot where the
battle took place ''trees can still be seen
perforated with bullets" As matter
OF fact, however, neither on nor near the
battle-ground are there any trees which
were standing at the time when Love
wells Fight took place, and hence no
trees perforated with bullets are still TO
be seen there. Mr.. Bateman says that
"some relic Of the battle II continually
turning up" That statement, however,
IL utterly without foundAtion-onless,
forsooth, he means that additional guns
are CONTINUALLY turning up" to be added
to the already large number OF those
with which II IL alleged that In the course
OF Lovewell's Fight the redoubtable
John Chamberlain OF Groton, Mass,
slew the Indian chief Psugus, the COM
mander of the Indian forces In the battle.
Qt will, perhaps, be recalled that In the
Democrat Of July Is, 1899, enumerated
nine such guns, and added that "a gen.
eral roundup OF all the guns Of this
kind would probably disclose the exist
ence Of enough OF them to stock an
Arsenal.") Mr.. Bsteman says that THE
expedition headed by Lovewell left
CONSTABLE, Massachusetts,, April 10,
1895" That date, however, 10 = hundred
years astray from the true date when
Iovewelrs expedition left Dunstable,
which was In April, F25. Lovewelrs
Fight, In which Lovewell lost his
life, took place on May s, l7a5. or
within month OF full century be
fore the time when, according 70 Mr..
Bateman, Lovewell's expedition left
Dunstable for Fryeburg. As might nat
urally be expected from 3 person know
Ing 30 little concerning Lovewell's Fight
as TO m,ke Lovewelrs expedition leave
Dunstable a hundred years after the true
date, Mr.. Bateuan says, In speaking OF
the battle, that "Tbe one great incident
of the day WAS the personal duel be-
tween Paugus and Chamberlain" and he
then rehearses, as historic truth, the old
familiar fiction about the Staying OF
Psugus by Chamberlain In q musket
duel between them. II, as Mr.. Bstemsn
says, that single combat between Cham
berlain and Paugus Was the most notable
incident OF Lovewell's Fight, he should
have mentioned and tried 10 account for
the remarkable fact that this most not
able incident Of the battle was utterly
unknown and upheard OF 1t the time
when Lovewell's Fight took place, and
that after eluding the painstAking re-
searches OF contemporaneous historians
who with almost microscopic minuteness
narrated the particulars OF the battle. u
remained buried In oblivion till, In 1893,
when Lovewell's Fight WAS seventy-four
years In the past, and when the last sur
viyor OF all those who had participated
In the battle had passed from earth, the
Incident Was first made known 10 the
world. Inasmuch as Mr.. Bsteman en-
bodies In what he says on the battle OF
Lovewell's Pond" (ss he calls Lovewelrs
Fight an account OF this alleged duel
betw cen Chamberlain and Psugus, II IL
strange that he did not add, AS 4 fit COM
pauion- piece TO this extrsvagsnt fiction,
the story, given In an old Euidebook,
that years ago lovelorn Indian maiden
committed suicide by lesping from
Jockey Cap into LovewelPs Pond.
Jockey Cap and Lovewell's Pond are, to
be sure, about half q mile from each
other, but the story that the Indian
maiden really made the leap 10 question
II as true "a 10 the tale OF the Staying OF
Paugus by Chamberlain.
II Mr.. Bateman's articles upon other
towns which he writes up are - accurate
rs the one on Fryeburg, and all such
articles should be issued together In book
form, the volume would be q work which
would cast dazzling food OF darkness
upon the history of the towns so forthn-
ate ss to have been covered by his pere-
grinations. Such Q work would be
almost as valuable an embodiment OF
facts as Thsckeray's "History Of the
Next French Revolution" To the au-
thor Of such work one could appro-
priately apply the mot to which Tom
Reed gave uttersnce In reference to Con-
gresham (now Governor) Benton Nc
Millin Of Teunessee-"He never opens