Locomotive, Volume 7, Number 13, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 February 1849 — Page 1

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' .'. 4 B R E V I T Y I S T II E SOUL ' OF W IT," . ; '.. .'' ' . . f . .. VOL. VII. C IT Y OF INDIAN AI'OLIS, SATUUDAY, FEBHUABY 21, 1849, No. 13.

.THE LOCOMOTIVE S PRINTED AND PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY, AT THE BOOK AKD JOB OFFICE OF DOUGLASS & ELDER, OPPOSITE BKOW.WKG'S, BY : - ( DAVID R. ELDER & CO. Terms For 3 months, 25 cents, Krin advanced - One Dollar a year. No paper will be continued to mail subscribers after the time for which they have paid expires, un lass the subscription is renewed. , - , Advertising For the first insertion 5 cents per line; each subsequent insertion 4 cents per line. ' Religious and benevolent notices, Births, Marriages, and Deaths, graJis.

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Account of a Shipwreck on Terra Firma

The eccentricities and whimsicalities of old sal water Captains, from the days of Commodore Tru

nion down to the present are well known, and hund

reds of amusing anecdotes have been told upon the

same subject but as we have never seen the.lollow

ing in print, and in the total absence of news for

eigncoastwise, or otherwise we have been in duced to devote a column to its recital. .

. The hero of our story was an old hero of both

the Revolutionary and last war one who had la

. bored hard, suffered much, and often received the

thanks of his country. Years and exposure having

finally rendered him unseaworthy, he brought his

water ashore, and settled down in a pleasant part

of the country to spend the remainder of his days'. After so long a residence upon the water, it is not

to be supposed that the old gentleman found every thing a 'ship-shape on. land; but with the assis

tance of a couple ot old sailors, one ol them an Irish

man, whom he had brought ashore with him, he in

a short time made out to introduce man-of-war fash ions, so far as practicable, upon his premises.

, Among his other eccentricities, he had a carriage

built upon a plan entirely new purely original

and we doubt if even among the thousands of use

ful, ornamental, and nonsensical articles in the Pa

lent Office at Washington its fellow can be found.

It was nothing more nor less than a regular man-

of-war, on a small scale, completely rigged with

sails, vhausers, anchors, &c. Ihis he set upon Bprings, the whole confined upon four large car

riage wheels. Mike, his Irish sailor, was soon let into the secret of driving four in hand, and two or

three little jaunts were made in the neighborhood with complete success. ; : One fine morning in summer, the old commodore invited several ladies to take a cruise with him in the vessel to some springs situated about twenty miles ofF. Fearing that some accident might occur,

they politely refused. lie set forth, in; glowing

terms, the pleasure of such a cruise, said it was a conveyance decidedly safer than any that could be procured, and used every argument to induce the

ladies to lake passage,- but all to no purpose. Soma

gentlemen finally agreed, to accompany him, and taking Mike along to sit upon the . bowsprit, and drive, and the other sailor to hand sails, &c. ahe party got under way, and set sail for the springs. -The road, for the first ten miles of the journey, was level or slightly ascending, and this part was got over smoothly and without accident. - Occasionally, as the road turned to the right or left, the old

commodore would sine out to Mike to haul in orl

slacken his starbord braces, and as so far it had teen perfectly plain sailling,' every thing worked lo a charm. They had now arrived at a point of Ihe voyjige where the road began to decend. The horses dashed off at a more rapid rate, and the whole party was exhilerated as they flew past rocks, trees, fences. The further they advanced, the faster went ihe horses, from a brisk trot they al length got into a canter.

, t Haul taut the fore braces,' said the commodore, alluding to the lines which were attached to the leaders. -: ' ..; : , Ay, ay, sir,' responded Mike, who was now holding them with all his might. ; . . . 'Slacken the larboard fore brace, there -hurry ! continued the Commodore, as the leaders were approaching too near the bank of a precipice which stared at them from the left, ... .; ., . . V Ay, ay, sir,' said Mike. c - .

How fast are we going now V said the Commodore to the, tar. ,:. . ; ; . , .' . - ; 'About sixteen knots, sir,' said Jack, who was holding fast to the little foremast to prevent being pitched out, as the wheels would occasionally hit a stump or root. The pace had now become absolutely terrific-Single-trees and double-trees, were rattling, traces were swinging about, hold-back straps were strained all but to breaking, and still the mad steeds kept on down the declivity. To the left was a steep and gloomy precipice,' at somepoints a hundred feet high ; and to run off here to meet with such a shipwreck at such a point would involve the certain destruction of passengers, horses, officers, and crew. The passengers were alarmed, and even the brave old Commodore, although he showed no fear and appeared perfectly cool and collected, began to think it time to ' haul in sail.'

' How does she head shouted the fellow to Mike. 'Right on the houlin precipice, there. By me

soul, it wouldn't be our mothers that 'ud know us

if she sinks in this ugly spot,' was the answer.

' Let go the mainsail !' sung out the Commodore,

who was all the .while working at a shnm rudder aft, imagining he was keeping his craft from going

over the steep.

Ay, ay, sir,' and down came the sail, rattling and fluttering with the current of air, raised by. speed

with which they were going. The noise frightened the horses still more, and down they went at a fast

er pace than ever. ; : -- Let go the topsails, Jack, was the next order, and they were soon .fluttering and flapping about. ' Keep her steady, there, Mike.' . t .. 7 ' That's just what I'm after doing, sir, but the devil himself couldn't keep a craft steady in such a rough time as this.' ... - , . Jib there let go and haul in the jib,' sung out

the commodore. In less time than it takes us to tell,

the iib came down on the wheel horses, who receiv

ing additional fright, started' off more furiously than mi I t 1 I 1 1

ever, i nines now looiteu aiarmingiy serious, ana

the gentlemen passengers were trembling with fright.

The Commodore had one more experiment to try, and as shipwreck now appeared-incvitable, he sung

out. -

Let go the anchor 1 No sooner said than done,

for before the words were fairly out of the Commo

dore's mouth, Jack had pushed a small anchor from the bows of -the craft. About fifteen fathoms of rope- spun out with great velocity, when the anchor caught in a tree by the road side, and brought them

up. It did not bring them up all standing, however,

but all tumbling: but the sudden jerk sent the lead

ers over the precipice, dragging the other horses

and the novel craft passengers, baggage and all

a distance of about thirty feet, after them. Three

of the horses werekilled, Mike had his hip put out, the old Co;nrnodore was severely and his friends slightly injured ; and even the Guerriere, after having

been battered all to pieces by the Constitution, did

not present such a melancholly looking wreck as

the Commodore's man-of-war pleasure wagon after

the accident. Thus ends the story of the ' Land Cruise of an old Salt.' '

' v ' , . Home. ' '; I've rov'd through many a weary round, I've wander'd East and West, ; ' r: Pleasure in every clime I've found,' But sought in vain for best. " While Glory sighs for other spheres, I feel that one's too wide, " And think the Home that love endears Were worth the world beside. , . -

Disappointed Love. People try to reconcile you to a "disappointment in love, by asking why you should cherish a passion for an object thatha3 proved itself worthless 1 Had you known this before, you would not have encouraged the passion : but, that having been once formed, knowledge does not destroy it. If we have drank poison, finding it out does not prevent its being in our veins ; so passion leaves its poison in the mind.'- It is the nature of all passion, and of all habitual affection; we throw ourselves upon it at a venture, but we cannot return by choice. If it is a wife that has proved unworthy, men compassionate the loss, because there is a tie, they say, which we cannot get rid of- But has the heart no ties ? Or if is a child, they understand it. But is not true love a child V Or when another has become a part of ourselves, where we must live or have no life at all,' can we tear them from a3 in an instant 1 No, these bargains are for life; and that for which our souls have sighed for years cannot be forgotten with a breath, and without a pang: HazHtt. ' -

, 'No Time for Swopping. Horses. ? A capital story, although it may be an old one, was recently related at a political meeting in Philadelphia.. It was told for the purpose of making a' point against the claims of one of the many candidates for the Presidency, but. is a good story even when robbed of its political leaning. An Indiana man was travel-' ling down the Ohio on a steamer, with a marc and two year old colt, when by a sudded careen of the boat all three were tilted into the river. The Hooaier, as he arose puffing and blowing above water, caught hold of the colt, not having a doubt that the natural instinct of the animal would carry him safe ashore. The old mare took a bee line' for the shoro, but the frightened colt swam lustily down the. current With its owner still hanging fast. ' Let go of the coltand hang on to the old mare,' shouted . some of his friends. Phree, booh !' exclaimed the Hoosier, spouting the water from his i mouth and shaking his head like a Nefoundland dog; ,' it is all very fine your telling me to let go the colt, but to a man that can't swim this aint exactly the time for

swopping horses.1

Maurice Lipman,. a clerk for a New York Importing Watch house, has been arrested and lodged in the ' Tombs' for robbing his employer of $5000

worth of watches, the whole of which were recov

ered. Although the young man took time by the forelock, he was evidently behind the time at last. He had better have bought the watches on time and let them run on and never have paid for them. His employer kept a sharp watch out, and the watch

es were stopwatches. Mr. Lipman found himself

m a bad case.

Never allow your authority, as a parent, to he

disputed; be firm, dignified, mild, and composed