davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01
PAYMENT FOR SLAVES.

With reference to a statement in
The National Tribune as to the Govern
ment paying for slaves freed under
Lincoln's proclamation, Capt. Edward
Webster informs us that the only slaves
held in the District of Columbia, which
were freed under a provision of an act
of Congress approved April 16, 1862,
abolishing slavery in the District. Capt.
Webster says:
THE slaves were to be appraised by
a board appointed for that purpose.
and $1.000,000 was appropriated to pay
for them. 100000 was also appro-
priated to aid in colonizing such of the
freedmen as wished to go to Hayti.
limits of the United States
I'm the Spring of 1854 the Quarter
masters on duty at Camps Nelson and
Burnside, KY, paid the owners of
slaves for services on Notifications but
in June or July of that year the same
slaves were listed in their own names
by the Quartermasters and payments
were made directly to them
AS late as November, 1864. 1 was
for some days Acting Provost Marshal
of the District Of Kentucky at Paducah.
Gen. Paine, then in command OF the
Department, was having more or less
trouble with the slave-owners regard
ing the slave question. Steamers on
the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers
| refused to permit people of color to
ride unless provided with passes signed
by their owners. This being reported,
| was directed to stop it, and one morn
ing / tied a fleet of steamers to the
wharf and kept them there until free
travel was assured.
From that time slavery was only
such in name. It's extinction reminds
me of, and is best illustrated by. the
story told by the owner Of a brood of
| chickens Matched out in the Winter
| He said they grew smaller and smaller
| but the blamed things did not die
| they just went out However. the
| amendment to the Constitution settled
the matter, and pay for slaves existed
only in the dreams Of the late owners. ~
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01

the outbreak of the war was a Second
Lieutenant of the Mounted Rifles and
on leave of absence. He resigned April
90, 1851, to enter the Confederate army
as q Lieutenant of Artillery. He was
soon in command of a regiment, then of
Il brigade, division and corps, and in
1862 was assigned to the command of
all the cavalry in the Confederate Army
of the Tennessee, which position he held
until the close of the war and was the
senior Cavalry General, at that time, of
the Confederate armies. He was ex
ceedingly prominent and active in all
the campaigns of the Army Of the Cum
berland and then in the forces opposed
to Sherman on the Atlanta campaign,
on the march to the sea and the march
through the Carolinas At the close of
the war he became planter and law
yer in Alabama, and was elected as
Democrat to the 47th Congress- He
was reelected to the 49th, 5Oth. 51st,
SD, SD. 54th,, 55th and seth Con-
crosses At the outbreak of the Span
ish war President Mckinley appointed
him, May 4. 1898, Major General of
Volunteers, and he was assigned to the
command OF the Cavalry Division which
went to Cuba. June "a, 1898, he, with
Il force of 900 men, attacked and de-
feated Lieut.-Gen. Linares at Las Qua
simas. the enemy bringing against him
over 1000 regular Spanish troops. He
was the senior officer in command on
the field at San Juan. July and 2, and
was the senior member of the commits
sion which negotiated the surrender of
Santiago and $4,000 Spanish soldiers
Upon his return to the United States he
was put in command at Montauk, and
Oct. 5, 1898, was assigned to the COM
mand OF the Fourth Corps. He was
appointed a Brigadier- General in the
Regular Army April IL, 1899. In 1899,
with the First Brigade, Second Division,
Eighth Corps, he fought the enemy in
several engagements, and captured
Porac and Bamban. He commanded in
various expeditions with entire success.
He was retired Sept. 10, 1900. The re-
mains were brought to Washington and
given a regular military funeral accord
ing to his rank, and buried in Arlington.
Gen. Wheeler was a genial, attractive
man, who became very popular with all
classes. Though he lined up with the
Confederate Brigadiers in Congress, he
was thoroughly reconstructed, and new
er failed to profess the greatest loyalty
to the Flag and entire acceptance of the
results of the war
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01

1t is generally understood that the
present program is to incorporate q
clause in the Pension Appropriation Bill
formally enacting Order No. IS. This
will make it a part of the laws of the
land and independent of the change
Of views of the President, Secretary of
the Interior or Commissioner of PEN
sions. 1t is intended that this amend
ment will make Order IS be in force
and effect practically q Service Pension
Bill with an age qualification, so that n
man arriving at the age of SO will be
regarded as pensionabe from that fact
alone, if he has the other requirements,
and that as his age advances the pen
sion will be Increased in accordance
with the provisions of the said order.
The manner in which the House and
Senate may regard this amendment, and
whether it will be accepted i'm lieu of a
straight-out Service Pension Bill re-
mains to be seen.
The following is the amendment pro-
posed to be incorporated in the Appro-
priations Bill:
"And provided further, that age is a
permanent specific disability within the
meaning of the pension laws"
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01
AT GETTYSBURG.

Editor National Tribune: i notice
that you are very ready to answer ques-
lions concerning the civil war. l was
no soldier, but I take great interest in
The National Tribune and have been
subscribing to it about four years. l
am especially interested in everything
that relates to Lees invasion of Penn
sylVania. / was about five years old al
that time and lived at Carlisle, Pa. 1
have a faint recollection Of the pres
ence of the Confederates The question
i want to ask is, Would the presence
Of Stonewall Jackson at Gettysburg
have made any difference in the re-
suit? What would have happened had
he been commanding his own corps
instead of its being divided between
Hill and Ewell? Especially what would
have been the result had he been in
command on the first day, when our
troops were not very well intrenched?
From what 1 have read of Stonewall
Jackson / believe he would have made
more trouble for our army and might
have changed the result of the battle
G.. III. knettle, Ottawa, 0.
This is rather futile speculation. and,
after all, one mans opinion is no bet
ter than another's. The Editor of The
National Tribune believes that Stone
wall Jacksons presence at Gettysburg
would have made no substantial diff
ference in the history of that engage
ment. While Jackson was undoubt-
eddy a military man OF unusual ability,
that ability was not transcendent, and
could not accomplish results at all
out Of the reach of the men who were
in command of the Confederates at
Gettysburg. The Confederates and
others continually mistake the condi-
ton Of things on the afternoon of the
first day. While 1t Is true that our men
had been defeated and driven back, it
was only after contest of terrific stub
| bornness, which left the assailants I'm as
| badly demoralized condition as the
First and Eleventh Corps. The fight
ing had shattered Lees forces, and 1t
was absolutely necessary for him to halt
and reorganize before making any fur
| Their advance. Stonewall Jackson could
not have done any better than Ewell
and Hill did. He never really fought
| as sharply contested an engagement as
| that which occurred on the afternoon
of July l, and in every battle In which
he participated he was repulsed or fell
back long before his losses reached
anything like the percentage of those
suffered by Ewell and Hill. Conse-
quently, taking all that we know OF
him. he would have been much more
likely to retreat or at least stand still
and reform his lines than Ewell
and Hill. r. =. Lee SAW clearly
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01

An attempt Is being made to have
Virginia adopt the Torrens Land system,
but it is meeting with strenuous oppo-
sition, especially from the southwest
part of the State, where the people
fear that the development of the min
ing industries will be greatly embar-
raised by legal complications The
Richmond Chamber of Commerce and
other business men have strongly in
dorsed the measure. 1t would seem to
outsiders that what Virginia most needs
Is proper survey of the lands of the
State and the establishment of lines
by which boundaries can be ascertained.
Virginia is still in the old complicated
and uncertain land system which has
been superseded, at least in the Western
States, by the simpler and exact system
put in force by the United States In
Virginia mans boundary still starts
from certain white oak" on the bank
of a creek, follows the meanderings of
the creek so many rods to a locust and
then goes least 20 degrees and 80
rods" and so on and SO on. The con-
sequence of this is endless litigation
and 1t would seem that the reform OF
the land system should begin there.
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01

Senator Lodge has heretofore been
regarded as the Presidents principal
spokesman in the Senate, and to sem
timentally stand closer to the Chief Ex-
ecutive than any other man in public
life. His emphatic and comprehensive
denial of any desire or will on the part
of the President to be again candidate
for Office ought to weigh more than any
number of reports from unauthorized
and probably imaginative persons as to
the probabilities and possibilities Of
such a candidacy.
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01

The men who manned the Mississippi
Ram Fleet have a bill before Congress
to put them on the same basis as SOL
diers. with reference to the act of June
"a, 1890. They were enlisted under
the Quartermaster's Department and by
orders Of the War Department, and
they fought side by side with the SOL
diers, taking all the chances that the
latter did and doing just as effective
service. 1t Is claimed that there is only
about 40 of these boatmen alive to-day.
They are all old and feeble and also
afflicted with poverty. They did great
service at the battle of Memphis, June
6, 1862, and ran the batteries of Vicks-
burg. Some of them were admitted to
pensions up until the second Admins
tration OF Cleveland. when Hoke Smith
ruled them out. These men were en-
listed in pursuance of the following
order issued from the War Department:
WAR Department, Washington n
c., March 81, 1862.
Charles Ellet, Jr.
Sir: You will please proceed i'm
mediately to Pittsburg. Cincinnati. and
New Albany, and take measures to pro-
tiue steam rams Tor defense against
1ronclad vessels on the Western waters.
instructions will be forwarded you by
mail to Pittsburg in conformity with
which you will guide your proceedings.
and from time to time receive such 9th
er instructions as may be required All
contracts and purchases will be made
by special Quartermasters to be ap-
pointed to act with you, and all ex-
penditures will be made by him and
under his direction. You will be COM
pensated for your services at the rate
OF pay allowed by law for similar SER
vices. to wit, $40 per day and mileage
at rate of 10 cents per mile.
yours truly.
edwin M. Stanton. Secretary of War"
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01
GEN. JOSEPH WHEELER.

man who filed large space i'm the
public eye for IAN unusual number of
momentous years was Maj.-Gen. Joseph
Wheeler, who passed away at his Sis
ter's home in New York, Jan. 81. Gen.
Joseph Wheeler was born in Georgia
and appointed from New York to West
Point, from which he was graduated in
the class of 1859. Members of that
class were Gems. William +. Merrill. NJ.
D. Hardin, Norman J. Hall. G. II. Carl
ton and Edwin II. Stoughton, Of the
Union army. and Gems. Lockett, Beck
ham and M. II. Wright. of the Confed-
crate. He was brevetted a Second Lieu
tenant of the u. S. Dragons, and at
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01
RISE OF THE HEN.

The hen has heretofore had the usual
hard luck of solid but unobtrusive
merit Although she has been abso-
lutely indispensable in many Of the
vital needs, necessaries and luxuries
of life, ranging from the substantial
breakfast dish of ham and eggs to the
sustaining. soothing, but brain twirl-
ing egg-nogg. she has usually been re-
ferred to in terms of contumely and
contempt. Like a hen" is the most
singing commentary upon a mans in
ability to keep his end up in anything.
The time and way that hen chooses
to cross road has been time out of
mind a figure of inopportuneness. A
hen will lie alongside a road for hours
without the slightest desire to cross it.
until she hears a buggy coming. Then
she gathers her skirts about her and
makes a mad rush, just in time to
be caught by the horses feet or the
buggy's wheels. The hen has always
sung her own praises very volubly.
especially after laying an egg, and her
discourse is quite pleasant to listen to
on a bright day, when the rest of
Nature is in happy mood. The Sec
rotary of Agriculture wrote quite
panegyric of her in his last report.
Usually, however, all said about her in
print and in conversation has been
scandalous, defamatory and derisive.
She has beaten the mother-in-law in
the number of alleged funny para
graphs about her senselessness, her
toughness, her fondness for running her
neighbours gardens, her obstinacy in
understanding that another Of her sex
wanted her to leave the premises, and
her general silly >cussedness. None OF
that literary laudation and love which
the illustrated papers have given the
horse, the cow, the dog and the pig
has been bestowed on the hen. Her
day seems dawning at last, though.
Last week a Plymouth Rock hen was
sold for $3.50. Money talks loudly and
without successful contradiction. This
at. once puts the hen among the aristo-
Gratis of the animal kingdom. 1t is the
largest price relatively that has ever
been paid for a farm animal, even the
famous $4,000 Jersey cow. and is on
the same scale with the prices paid for
fancy racers. 1t is as much as our
forefathers thought good farm was
worth, and equal to two years of wages
to an able-bodied farm hand. 1t is
about the average yearly income Of a
doctor. lawyer or editor in the United
States. Now let the sneers and derision
of the humble but useful hen be
drowned under the diapason Of praise
of her feminine beauty, virtue and
worth.
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01
MONUM ENT TO WIRE.

Dec 90, 1905, the Atlanta Constitu-
ton published the following item:
AT the regular monthly meeting of
Atlanta Camp, No. 159, United Confed-
crate Veterans, the following interest
ing and stirring resolutions, presented
Dy the committee named, relating to
the movement to erect monument to
Capt. Henry Wirz, Commander at An
Jacksonville Prison during the war, who
was hanged by the FederaIs, were unan-
imOusly passed:
Whereas we have ever regarded his
execution by the frenzied fanatics who
were in control of the Federal Govern
ment at that time as an act Of savage
vindictiveness; and
Whereas we feel that the erection
of monument to his memory will be
a just tribute TO faithful, patriotic
Confederate officer, an innocent victim
OF misrepresentation, perjury, and fiend-
ish malignity. to martyr who suffered
death in preference to bearing false
testimony against President Jefferson
Davis. Such a monument will, for all
ages to come, serve as q fitting rebuke
to such as wOuldiin the hour of triumph
insult civilization by acts of cruelty"
This is the very limit Of historical
perversion. There is not an atom of
truth in any Of the assertions. Capt
Henry Wirz'was not hanged for obey
ing any legitimate orders, nor was he
badgered to get evidence against jeff
Davis. He was punished, as many
other men were punished, for COM
hitting acts forbidden by the laws of
war. The evidence was abundant that
he had done SO, and he did not plead in
his defense that he was specially
ordered to do as he did. His acts were
the offspring Of his own petty, brutal
malignfty. These were outside and in
excess Of the general policy of starva-
ton and maltreatment for which JEFF
ferson Davis was responsible. and which
was proved beyond doubt by the testi-
mony Of Confederate officers. The re-
ports Of Confederate Inspectors and
Surgeons showed the conditions Of
things in the prison. ana a. they went
to Confederate headquarters the pre-
sumption could not be escaped that JEFF
ferson Davis had guilty knowledge OF
what was being done In Andersonville
and approved Of Il.
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01
THE CAPTAIN OF THE SLOCUM.

Capt. William II. Van Schaick, Mas
ter of the Inflated steamer Gen. Slo-
cum. was sentenced last Saturday to 10
years imprisonment. This was more
than 10 months after the tragedy which
shocked the whole country, and it does
not seem as If justice had been as eX-
emplary as it should Undoubtedly
Capt. Van Schaick deserved punish
ment, but there is a feeling that he has
been made scapegoat and the really
guilty parties, his employers, the Presi-
dent and Board of Directors of the
Knickerbocker Steamboat Co., should
be visited with q punishment much
greater than his. They have so far not
been criminally proceeded against 1t
is not at all to the credit of New York
justice that this should be SO. Capt
Van Schaick was tried on three counts
two of manslaughter and one for hav-
ing failed to train his crew at weekly
fire drills or to maintain proper life
saving apparatus. 1t was on this last
count that the jury found him guilty.
having disagreed on the other two
counts. His counsel denounce the sen
tence as unjustiiably severe, and have
appealed the case. The public will be
better satisfied with shorter sentence
for him and longer ones for the crimi-
nally penurious managers, who did not
equip their vessel properly, but COM
PEELED the Captain to sail with what
they gave him.
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01
THE SOUTHERN STATES AND THI;
REVENUE.

Editor National Tribune: A few
years ago the Southerners were COM
planning OF being taxed TO pay pensions
to Northern soldiers. and it was an
swered that the State of Illinois paid
more than all the Confederate States
put together. Can you give the figures
that show this?-A. W. Snyder. Or
chard Park, n. Y.
For the fiscal year ended June 80,
1905, the States which composed the
late so-called Southern Confederacy paid
the following amounts of internal reve-
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01

Representative Rhodes, of Missouri,
has introduced a resolution to create a
roll of Volunteer Generals and pro-
vide for the retirement of these with
the customary pay of officers of that
rank on the retired list. A petition
signed by 100 Generals of Volunteers
accompanied the resolution. Just why
Mr.. Rhodes drew the line at Generals
is difficult to say. A General is no more
entitled to go upon the retired list than
a Colonel, nor the Colonel than the
Major, and SO on
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01
The State of Maryland is preparing

The State Of Maryland is preparing
for the cruiser bearing the States name
magnificent silver service. which is
said to be the finest thing Of the kind in
the world outside Of one service Of gold
In Italy. 1t consists of 4s pieces, upon
which are being engraved sketches from
the history Of the State. It will be pre-
sented about April l, and a guard OF
honor from the Naval Militia will be on
duty with it from the time Of its COM
pletion until its presentation.
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01

The Republicans have only them
selves to blame for stirring up the ques-
ton of Mr.. Roosevelt succeeding him
self Everything was quiet until Sena-
tor Aldrich, without provocation, put
the question to Senator Bailey.
"Will the next Democratic candidate
for President be Bryan or Hearst 2"
Of course, Bailey, lawyer-like. an
swered by asking if Roosevelt would
be the Republican candidate, and AL
drich had to dodge.
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01

Prof. Pickering, the head of the Har-
ward University Observatory, is much
annoyed by the flood Of inquiries as to
the sun-spots, and he says that they
have nothing like the value that popu-
lar belief attributes to them. So far
as has been determined they have no
influence whatever upon this globe,
though they may be allied i'm some man.
ner with our magnetic storms
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01

A new parliamentary question was
raised at an all-night session of the
Australian Parliament by a member
solemnly putting to the Speaker as a
point of order: us an honorable MEM
Der in order in snoring so loudly that
I cannot hear?"
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01

Commissioner Garfield says that he
has never had the slightest difficulty
in getting Information about corpora
tons" No doubt about that, but about
the worth of the information there is
the most serious question
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01

One of the singular reasons alleged
for the vacation of the election of a
New York City Alderman is that he is
not naturalized citizen. Think of
this in city where the popular belief
is that a residence of a few days is
only required to give a man the full
rights of citizenship
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01

that his n len, were in no condition
whatever for an advance. They could
not have held the bloody ground al
ready gained f9r an instant, if even
small bodys ofsfresh troops had come
up. as Lee hadjreason to fear. There
fore he pr,t1ently gathered his men to
prepare against a return blow.
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01

Russia is quieting down, but it is ap-
parently the exhaustion of WEAKNESS
and hunger. The people. without or
ganization or direction, without any
supplies of food, or any direction to-
ward establishing a better Government
are tired out, and will subside into sui
len submission. until something else
stirs them up again.
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01

George Westinghouse, Jr.. only SON
and heir of the Westinghouse millions.
graduated from Yale last year and inn
mediately went to work as an appren-
tice in the Westinghouse Company's
great establishment. He wears the or
binary clothes of the other apprentices
and carries his dinner in a tin pail. The
foremen and others are instructed to
show absolutely no knowledge Of the
fact tt~at he is his fathers son.
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01

Commander-in-Chief Tanner will
leave Washington Feb. 10, for a visit
to a number of veteran gatheri gs. and
will be at the Vermont Department En-
campment Feb. 20, probably returning
to Washington on the 22d. He will be
accompanied by Adj't-Gen. Tweedale
and his staff
The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1906-02-01
SQUARE
DEALS.

The National Tribune has reason to be-
1ieve that all advertisers admitted to its
columns are thoroughly reliable.