The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-07-31
HowtheM Message
Was Carried
-.
\ Story For Independence
Day
By EUNlCE BLAKE

~ '0~
II IA group Of children.
What kind of II story"
why. a Fourth of July story. Of
curse. We'd like that best
But. my dears. the Fourth of July
il made u holiday to celebrate the is
suing of the Declaration Of %lndrpend.
ence The only story appropriate t"
such Il day would be il story Of the
zines in which it was passed. involv
IN. some episode connected with the
forts OF our ancestors to maintain
the stand they had taken Now, !
wasn't born till nearly three quarters
of Il century after July 4. l1Ii. the
day ON which our nation was born.
But my grandfather was still living
when | was u little boy. just about the
when the war Of the Revolution was
teing fought and had taken part in it
himself. He often told me stories Of
what happened in those days. and n
Of them especially impressed me.
You must remember that in 1916 all
Of the American colonies were grouped
along the Atlantic coast. Most of the
territory extending to the Pacific
ocean was q wilderness. and much of
it had never been explored. The ter
ritory of the colonies may be compar-
ed to q bird with Outstretched wings.
The northern wing was the New Eng
land colonies: the body was New York.
New Jersey and Pennsylvania: the
southern wing was the colonies of the
south Through the body Of the bird
ran the Hudson river. which. with
Lake Champlaln. formed the only prac.
ticable route to Canada.
After the battle Of Bunker Hill at
Boston the struggle between the Amer
leans and British was principally for
the possession Of the Hudson river.
Washington. after the battles about
New York city. went to New Jersey.
where he was between the two wings
Of the bird.
~ have taken pains to explain this
to you that you may understand why
Washington spent 30 much of the time
he was commander in chief Of the
American forces in New Jersey and
why 90 much Of the fighting was done
In that state. Besides. the story I am
going to tell you took place there.
when Washington first went to
New Jersey he took position at Hack.
ensack with half the army. e aving the
other half on the other side Ut the
Hudson north Of New York city III
der command Of General Charles Lev
Washington. being convinced that Gen
erai Howe. commanding the British
forces in New York. vas Intending tn
march southwark through New Jer
sey, decided to order Lee to CROSS the
Hudson and Join him that he might
oppose Howe's move with u unitt4i
force.
my grandfather was q sergeant In
the ranks Of WashingtOn's army. He
had done some successful scouting fOt
the commander during the lighting on
Long Island and afterward on Manhat.
tan Island and by his daring and
adrOitness had gained the generals
confidence "a a good person to carry "A
message. He sent for Abner-my
grandfather's name was Abner Jones'
and told him. he wished him to carry
q message to General Lee.
II have no doubt that Abner was II
very daring youngster-youngsters are
usually f~earless-but the sequel prov
ed that. his daring was akin to reck.
iessness. The message he was to car
ry was q very important one. and it
was very important that be contine his
attention to it alone. he had hut ten
miles to 60 to reach the river and no
great distance to reach General Lee
on the other side. but 1t was Y e de-
batable ground. and be was liable tC
meet small lots Of British rs we'll ~
American soldiers.
Washington gave ADner the order
for General Lee written on tissue pa
pet. and rolled into q little ball about
the size of a pea. In case he was cap
tured With It on him he was to swat
low 1t. for II the British general should
know that Washington was intending
to have Lee Join him be would doubt.
less take measures to prevent the juno
ton.
'Abner concluded to walk to the Hud
son dressed as q farmer. With = pitch.
fork on his shoulder. he trudged along
meeting an occasional British or Amer.
lean trooper. all Of whom passed him
without especially noticing him, Az he
proceeded he thought bow he should
cross the Hudson when ne Once reach
ed It.. and here 10 where his reckless
ness anne in. though that rpckiessness
had a spur, which was love for \ pref.
~ girl. On the vest bank of the Hud.
q lived Deborah Good win. the daugh
ter Of q prominent British sympnthizer
Abner could trust Deborah. but II her
father should know that he carried a
message from the commander III chief
and Mr.. Goodwin could get 1t he would
send It ut once to General Howe at
New York. On the other hand. Abner
thought that Deborah might find n way
for him t. Cross the river.
"Abner persuaded himself that hp had
better 70 to the t:n"hwin house. t,eine
lnf1s,nnOs.d hV n AoaSr.. ~, arc h3o- .,u.n~A