Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 October 1879 — ITEMS OF INTEREST. [ARTICLE]

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Paper is now substituted for wood in Germany in the manufacture of lead pencils. It is steeped in an adhesive liquid, and rolled round the core of lead to the requisite thickness. After drying it is colored, and resembles an ordinary cedar pencil. The first French ballet in New York was given at the Bowery about 1827. Mme. Hutton, the principal dancer, on appearing in her brief and gauzy costume, was greeted with a storm of hisses, which ended in an uproar and the departure of many from the theater. The curtain was rung down, and no farther performance was given that night. There was a general attack upon the troupe in the papers of the next day, and the exhibition was characterized as the most shameful and indecent ever presented in the city. The consequence was that standing room could not be found tne following night on the rising of the curtain. The house was black with men only. Within a week, however, a few ladies appeared, and before the end of the month fashionable New York had flocked in large numbers to the theater.

Francis Scott Key, a lawyer of Frederick, Md., was the author of the “Star Spangled Banner,” which he composed while a prisoner in the British fleet during the bombardment of Fort McHenry. The facts in relation to the composition of this song are worth reproducing: “ The British, having captured Washington, returned to to their vessels, carrying with them Dr. Beanes, a prominent citizen and physician of Upper Marchase. Mr. Key, with the permission of the President, proceeded to board the English fleet and solicit his release, the British Admiral, Cochrane, upon whose flagship the Doctor was imprisoned, being about to make an attack upon Baltimore, detained them both until the attack should have taken place. On the evening of the bombardment they were sent, together with Gen. J. S. Skinner, on board the American cartel. The Minden, which was anchored in sight of Fort McHenry with a guard of marines, to prevent their landing and carrying information to their unsuspecting countrymen. From the deck the three friends saw the bombardment of Fort McHenry, which soon ended. While the bombardment lasted, the “ bombs bursting in the air” was evidence that the fort had not surrendered. The firing ceased soon after midnight. All was once more still. Having no communication with the shore, the Americans were in grave doubt as to the result of the fight and the fate of their many friends in the city. They awaited the dawn with the greatest solicitude. Then “on that shore, dimly seen through the mist of the deep,” they discerned the flag they had watched at the twilight’s last gleaming still waving above the fort, and the broad stripes and bright stars, defiantly unfurled to the breeze, shone brightly as a beacon of hope to the beating hearts in the bright rays of the rising sun. It was upon the deck of the Minden, between midnight and dawn, that the song was written whose stanzas expressed the feelings of thousands of eye-witnesses on shore. To their great joy they soon learned that the attack upon, Baltimore had failed, that Ross was killed, and that the British were re-embarking the forces which, had fought North point. When the fleet was ready to sail, Mr. Key and his friends were released, and proceeded to Baltimore, where, from the rude substratum jotted down on the back of a letter, the song was reduced to its present form, and read co Judge Nicholson, one of the gallant defenders of the fort. So pleased was he with it that he had it printed by Samuel Sands, the apprentice of Capl. Berry Edes, who was then off on defense duty, and copies of it were distributed among the citizens.