Locomotive, Volume 31, Number 11, Indianapolis, Marion County, 3 February 1855 — Page 2

CORRESPONDENT'S TRAIN

Hi.-- T - - PROGRESS. This age is a progressive age, ' By lightning we talk, ' And "Bulgines" run the land all o'er, Then where's the use to walk? The elements we now control, As substitutes for men We soar aloft above the clouds, By gas of hydrogen. . The earth yields up her iron ore Machines from it are made, Which shows the force of leverage In ev'ry form and grade. By steam we run our vast machines, ' And plow the briny main We plow and sow, and reap and mow, And grind our golden grain. Good paper, now, is made of wood For good "bank stock" sec "list," And banknotes too are copied now By some photographist. The Minnie Kifle now is made Quite wonderful and odd ! The load is put in at the breach Of course there is no rod. And soon we'll ride the ocean o'er On wheels, and axles big Enough to carry forty score Oh! what a monster gig. But why talk of progress and arts, Of what progress has done, Our youths have veiled it in the dark Of boys and girls we've none. : ' Our lads, forsooth, loom out in life, Add feel themselves quite men, And think they'd like to wed a wife .. ; About the age of ten. . And lasses, too, are women now In less than half a score, And feel so too, when e'er they drop Their tiny pianofore. Excuse me now, if I should squint At something rather sad, By questions asked that slightly hint , Why "boys" cannot be had. Is there no wrong in training youths, , By mothers, very nice? Need I tell here of glaring faults That's paramount to vice? Franklin, Ind. ' Dexter. (Correspondence or the Locomotive.) , " . u Washington, D. C. Jan. 29th, 1855. My only excuse, Mr. Editor, for troubling you ' with these simple extracts from my little journal, is that it may interest some of your young readers to hear a young girl's impressions of Washington. ' On our way to this city we crossed the mountains by night, and nothing, I think, could more vividly excite the imagination than the speed with which we rushed onward through the thick darkness, occasionally illumined , by a sentinel light flashing upon us for a moment, and as quickly disappearing. As the first sunbeams glanced over the distant Blue Ridge into the clear river at one side of our car-way, while the little village nestled among the native - cedars of the opposite mountain-side was cast into deep shade, I could not help feeling casting all national partiality aside that no "scene on the Rhine" could surpass it. December 3(MA. We arrived in this city last night. It was long before my enthusiasm would allow me to sleep. I was in Washington, the Law-giver of our nation ! In the city whose streets had echoed to the tread of those men, those immortal statesmen, whose fame was their nation's glory! I would visit the Capitol, where their eloquent voices had been raised in defense of the . principles bequeathed to us by our forefathers. ' And last 'twas a holy thought! I was very near the Mecca of my dreams Mount Vernon ! The evening after our arrival we spent at Mr. Bright's. His kind lady is thought to resemble our charming; Mrs. Col. D Mr. Bright appears to great advantage in the midst of his family. It is there his kindly nature shines forth, and we see the man, independent of his high position. January ill. Early in the morning Pennsylvania Avenue was one unbroken line of people. Elegantly dressed ladies and their cavaliers would pass our window one moment, and the next, a poor washerwoman, toiling beneath the weight of her heavy basket, might be seen ; then a consequential-looking darkey, in imitation livery, - distributing bis master's cards to his friends in the hotel, in lieu of a New Year's call from his mastfir in person. But it would be impossible to give any definite idea of a scene which changed as often as those of a panorama. Mingling with this promiscuous procession, I soon found myself, under the kind guidance of Gen. Lane, wending my way towards the White House. We found some difficulty in entering, as the crowd was very great, but, when fairly inside, I was amply repaid by a view of its beautiful appointments. The President looked very pale; but to stand and smile, and shake hands with thousands, is not quite so easy in practice as it is in theory. After paying our respects to Mr. President, we passed into the famous East Room. Its exquisite Gobelin carpet, the mirrors, chandeliers, and gilt cornices, made the room present a very dazzling appearance you may be sure to my eyes, all unused to such a spectacle. Leaving the White House we went the round of the Secretaries', whose receptions were very like that of the President, except the crowd was much less.

January ind. This morning we visited the Congressional Burying Ground. Here lie the remains of some of the noblest men whose names grace the annals of our country. The first monument that attracted my attention on entering, was that of Elbridge Gerry. Nearly half a century has passed since his death; change after changeTias taken place in the political history of the world, yet his name, and those of his compatriotsthe signers of the Declaration of Independence is still treasured up in the great heart of his country. Among the plain granite monuments of the members of Congress, I noticed that of John Quincy Adams. It had no highsounding inscription ; simply his name as a representative in Congress. . The grounds are kept in fine order. i ' January 8ti. This evening wo attended the concert of Grisi and Mario. Grisi's voice is still, in the upper register, what it was in her palmiest days, some critics say, who heard her in Europe many years ago. Surely her cadenzas were wonderfully executed. But her acting was the

very personification of grace. Her character of Norma is best suited to her style of singing and action. Her every attitude was queenly. , The contralto, Signora Donivani, and the basso were fine singers. Mario is called the finest tenore in the world. The President, and most of his Cabinet, were present. On Thursday we attended a party at Mr. Corcoran's. This has been pronounced decidedly the party of the season. I had heard much of the magnificence of Mr. Corcoran's mansion, but "the half had not boen told me." On the left of the main entrance is a gallery so constructed as to give the best light for the paintings with which its walls are covered. No outlay has been spared in getting up this choice collection. One painting alone cost $20,000. At the end opposite the entrance of this gallery is the original Greek Slave, in an alcove lined with crimson velvet, the arrangement showing that Mr. Corcoran has an artist's eye for the beautiful. I hear that Mr Corcoran kindly opens his gallery once a week for the benefit of the public. ' Seven or eight rooms were crowded with youth and beauty, age and wisdom, Heads of Depart ments, foreign Ministers and their wives and daughters, painters and poets, Beau Brummel's famous belles, and learned travellers. The furniture was splendid bevond description. Pass1 v insr from this suit of rooms into a IialJ, we suddenly came to the conservatory, in the form of a grotto, where flowers of the richest tropical hues were glowing with beauty, seemingly unconscious that they were "strangers in a strange land," so tenderly had they been cared for. ' But to speak of this mansion is to-dream of fairy-land. I have been told that this entertainment has been spoken of in the New York Herald as equal to those held at St. Cloud or Buckingham Palace. On Friday we attended the President's levee. I was shown Gen. Harney, Commodore Perry, Gen. Sam. Houston, Gen. Scott, and other great men. The tall General luuk in fine spirits. Ouf Indiana-Oregonian, Gen. Lane, was one of the lions of the evening. But the limits I allowed myself are exhausted, so adieu. .' . , .; Sallie. - STATE PRINTER WHO IS TO BE? ' Mb. Editor: If you will permit a plain, blunt man, and no office-seeker, to say a word in your valuable paper on the matter of State Printer, now so much talked and written about, I will thank you. ' It is a subject in which I have no interest beyond that of any citizen, and, as you are aware, can have no personal feelings; but I have become somewhat engaged in it from reading the remarks of the press of all parties, and hearing various opinions, and will give you my conclusions. ' It seems that a fusion caucus has nominated George, son of Jacob P. Chapman, for State Printer; but the charge is pretty generally made, and seems to be believed, that George is but the nominal, and Jacob P. the real recipient of the favor, and I have concluded that such must be the fact, for these reasons: , .. ., j ... , ; 1. George is but a boy, '. without pecuniary means, so far as I know, to obtain a press, and without education or ability to edit a paper, as all well know, and not a printer, having been brought up in the Navy. , , ., , 2. Jacob P. is a printer and editor, has fol lowed the business, and it may well be supposed is desirous of continuing to do so, but having, when he sold the Sentinel to Brown, bound himself, as an inducement for Brown to pay him an enormous price, not to publish a paper in Indianapolis for five years, he is compelled to use the the name of his boy, to evade the grip of the law for the violation of his pledged faith. '. Regarding it as settled, then, that Jacob P. Chapman is really the nominee for printer, it is highly proper to examine his pretensions to the station he aspires after. The enquiry is a proper one, therefore, who is Jacob P. Chapman, and what of him? I shall not notice the remarks we. hear upon the street continually, as to the operation of the temperance and anti-swearing laws of the present session of the Legislature will have upon him, but will throw together such notices, or some of them, as are taken of him touching other matters. For example: It is said that in 1 843, Eckles was elected State Printer, and that Chapman thereupon swore he would leave the party with his press; and, to keep . peace, the democratic party had to get Eckles to resign, and elect Chapman. It is said that since then he has been an everlasting bore as an office-seeker that he has been twice or thrice a candidate for the nomination for Congress, a candidate for President of the State Bank, for Postmaster; that he crowded his boy, through political favor, into the Navy, who, after he had traveled sufficiently in time of peace, and reached a point where, he might be of some service to the government in time of war, should one happen, suddenly resign ed and came home that he, Jacob, was a can

didate elected for the Constitutional Convention,

and paid three dollars a day for some nine months; and during the very time that he was receiving pay for his services as a member of the Convention, he was also receiving a large portion of the profits of the State Printing; and for the third time, was a candidate for State Printer, as appears by a correspondent of the Richmond Jeffersonian, who urges the following objection, which certainly seems to have some force. He says: - "By the way, this "nomination of Chapman for printer gives rise to a question. We find in the forthcoming volume of Indiana Reports, by Mr. Porter, a case in Chancery from which we make some extracts. : The bill in the case charged that Jacob P. Chapman was elected State printer in 1850, and that certain persons "purchased from Chapman the right to do the public printing and receive the pay therefor, for which they paid him a considerable sum of money." "Chapman was made a defendant, and answered, confessing the bill." The court says: "The printing for the term for which the State printer is elected amounts to a largo sum of money, and creates the necessity for a large amount of materials. ' The State wants, therefore, honesty and judgement in the man intrusted with it; and she wants promptness, accuracy and neatness in the execution of the work. "And it is with an eye to these things that the officer is chosenfand his personal superintendence is expected to be given to secure them." "The Statutes of 5 -and 6 Edw. 6 of .England against buying and selling offices would prohibit the sale of that of State printer, and principles of public policy prohibit it here." . Now, the question is, after a man has once been elected to an office, and been guilty of selling it, is he eligible to a re-election to that office? Will he not sell it out again? Will he not sell himself, his party, his country, if he wjll sell a public office?" " ; Others again say, that last summer Chapman was earnest and constant in courting the ' Germans, said they were his only friends, and declared that he intended to stand by them. Now they say he is a Know Nothing, the sworn foe of these same Germans, whose "accent" he loved so well. - : : . : But I am taking up too much time.- I have thrown together a portion of the objections I have made to Mr. Chapman. I have made enquiries into their correctness, and have come to the conclusion that his was a nomination not fit to be made, and should not be ratified by an election. Others can communicate more, of the universal dissatisfaction this nomination gives, even to the leading members of the Fusion party, and the press generally, but we will leave that for the present. . Observer. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1855. JfjSaturdayisth6 day of publication of tho Locomotive irben it will alwaysbereadyfor subscribers'. In nocasewill weletacopyofthepaper go from the office before publica tionday . ' v ' OFFICIAL PAPER FOR THE CITY. OFFICIAL PAPER TO PUBLISH THE LIST OF LETTERS i S3T Single copies of the Locomotive can be procured at the office, opposite the Post Office, either with or without wrappers, at 5 cents each ; , . . , Interesting to the People. Newspapers en joy the best health in times of excitement. The Legislature beinjr in session, it is of course a time of excitement. Therefore it is the daily papers of our city are so very interesting. They abuse each other heartily, which is of vital interest to the people. The people are anxious about the fight, because if one paper or the other should be defeated, its party must go down to rise no more forever. All this because the paper is the party: that is, the representative of that valuable portion of the citizens, the office seekers. As the offices are lost and won, so is the country saved or ruined. We, not having been enlisted for the particu lar service of fighting for office, don't find all the special interest in Fusion and Democracy that some do. ' We have our political views, true, but they are not founded entirely on the hope of office. Therefore, we cannot treat our readers to such heart affecting appeals on political questions as some can. i Our sympathetic hungriness for the dear people's offices is not so patriotic. People, is it not a matter of soul-absorbing interest to you, who get the offices? .. . itSTDuring the rist winter many demands have been made upon the liberality, of our citi zens, by .the various tCburches of the city. Oysters, peaches and cream, candies and cakes, have been temptingly offered to the public, and they have paid freely for the gratification of their appetites. The Asbury Chapel Sabbath School now presents its claim; . and as "variety is the spice of life," they have changed the programme, and offer to the public an intellectual feast; and those who have conscientious scruples as to Suppers and Fairs, certainly cannot find excuse now. Miles J. Fletcher has been engaged by the School to deliver a lecture in Robert's Chapel, next Friday evening at 7 o'clock. Admission only Ten Cents something less than the money usually paid at Fairs. ,.,.' - Subject of the lecture, "The Providences of God, as manifest in some particular portions of Our Early History." We hope our citizens will prove that they estimate their heads as highly as they do their stomachs. . JtSTlt is announced in the daily papers that the choir of the Baptist Church will give a Concert of Sacred Music, (not a Sacred Concert, as the Re publican has it,) on next Friday evening; at Ma sonic Hall. We have no doubt the music of the Choir, which is one of the best in the city, will be far superior to a majority of the strolling com panies that visit us, and should have a full house to hear them.

Correct the Young Convict and Punish, the

- .. . Old. We know of no more valuable undertaking by the State, than to establish a system for the correction of juvenile offenders against the criminal laws. ' The Governor has recommended it, and we see the Indiana Journal, in an editorial of considerable length, dwells on the importance of the mattes. It is certainly a matter that must strike the minds of all good citizens as next in importance to free schools. It is wrong, and always has been wrong, to place the young culprit in the den of thieves, murderers, burglars and pick pockets, where the idea of reformation never enters, but where, on the contrary, schemes of future villainy are only thought upon. Place the young criminal with the old, and his pliant mind is easily educated for a whole life-time of crime. Place him where he may be influenced by moral teachings, and where the rewards of virtue and of vice are set before him in their true light, and there is a hope that he may become a useful citizen, instead of a terrible vagabond. It ought to be remembered that the young heart is a place where, if the seeds of correct principle are sown and cultivated, the product will be use fulness; and where, if vice is not only permitted to take root, but to grow up in rankness, nought can be expected but the fruits of vice. It should be the object of the State to care for all her citi zens, and see that none become injurious who might by probability or possibility become useful. . . . ., At the same time we urge upon the State attion to the young offender, we will not forget to say a word as to the old. Our country, from the north to the south, from the east to the west, is crying out with the commission of the most enor mous crimes. Murders, robberies, rapes, seduc tions, burglaries, thefts, house burnings, and all the catalogue of crimes, are committed every day, and fill the columns of the papers with their horrid details., i, Why is it? . Is it not because of the gentle penalty attached to. the commission of these crimes, and because of the almost impossi bility to bring offenders to legitimate trial? The life of man is sacred, and the right of property too; and both should be guarded against bloody handed villainy, with penalties that would let villains see that the State so regarded them. As long as there is one. old hardened villain left in the land to curse it, there ought to be a law to bless the State wjien he is caught. ;., i "HAVE YOU READ BARNUM?" ; If one dont read everything that is to be read perhaps one is behind the age: that is, we mean everything new, light, trifling, and good for no thing. When one goes into company where it is necessary the tongue should speak say some thing for the benefit of the occasion, the con-1 versation generally turns upon the latest trashy j book matter that has been born into the world. "Have you read Barnum?" is the literary interrogatory of literary gentlemen and ladies now-a-days. Is itjiot a shame that literature should be slandered by the popular reception of such a book as Barnum 's ? We have seen and read, when we were in our boyhood, confessions of various murderers and highwaymen, but we never received any good that we know of from the reading. .We were somewhat excusable for reading such things, because we were young, and the facts were exciting, and we did not feel that we were paying court to the villains of whom we were reading. But we do not consider the person who enjoys a conversation upon the beauties and fun of Barnum's book, as at all excusable, or as showing a sufficient amount of self-respect. The question is, upon reading Barnum, whether such a man is the most fit and accomplished com" panion for gentlemen and ladies. Whether such a character is one that virtue should make a lion of, and good taste allow as a polished exemplar. Should real gentility pay homage to Mr. Barnum? Had not the respectable portion of mankind better let him boast his heroic deeds among dirty birds of his own feather? . We think so. There are certain books in the world that genteel people don't care to say they have read: we think Barnum's should be numbered among them. But beside the contemptible humbug of the erudite author, there are many thousand other trashy, injurious books afloat, that ought to be expunged. Books that float about, poisoning the very atmosphere which the young breathe. Obscene books are guarded against by law, but not by law sufficiently prohibitory. . It would be well if there were some establishment of the Government by which should be determined the moral character of books, and their fitness for publication, and prohibit the publication of any and all books not endorsed by the Government. Then many of that character that are now injurious, poisonous, murderous to the young mind, would have no place in our libraries, on the shelves of the book-sellers, or under the pillows of the young. ; ' Good, sound, nutritious food, strengthens the body: gives it health and activity. So good, sound, nutritious books, give strength, health and activity to the mind. Poor, innutritious food, weakens the body, and that which' is poisonous sometimes kills. So like food to the mind affects the mind. Is it not important, then, to those who would improve the mind instead of injuring it, to be careful what they read? ' And is it not important to parents and others having care of the young, to see what books come into the hands of the young? We have seen young men who would sit, year in and year out, poring over silly yellow-backed romances. : Did they receive any benefit? If they had spent the same time in reading facts, would not those facts, be now stored away for use? Chaff is not grain. The former will be blown away the latter lived upon. jC"Gently the falling snow descends, : and wraps the earth in its winding-sheet, as softly as a young mother for the first time folds her infant in its downy robes, and calmly lays it down to sleep, with good Angels to guard its first earthly slumber.

THE DARLING. Oh dear little darling! So like its papa! , ' And just the bright image Of lovely mama! Its little black eyes, And its little pug nose, Lips like the cherry And cheeks like the rose, Oh, dearly I love it The dear little one! It's mama's own darling It's papa's own son! . !'. '.'' But why will ye cry? . - , , : Ye rascal, be still! . . . ' . Shut up your squalling! , , , Or whip ye, I will. , '. Such twists in your face! '. ' Such screeching and kicking! . ; ' ' "' - . Behave yourself, now! , . . , , , , Or I'll give ye a licking.,' Oh flesh of my flesh! ' ' - ' Bpne of my bone! Curs'd be the wedlock That made thee my own. ; By the way, we have seen a new plan for keeping babies quiet, which we recommend to those afflicted with juvenile heirs of squalling habits. It is, "as soon as the squaller awakes, set it up, propped by pillows, if it cannot sit alone, and smear its fingers with thick molasses. Then put half a dozen feathers into its hands, and the young one will pick the feathers from one hand to the other until it drops asleep. : As soon as it awakes, more molasses and more feathers, and in the place of astounding yells', there will be silence and enjoyment unspeakable." We have seen all sorts of toys tried to effect the object, but as often have seen them fail. We thpught the baby-jumper a great invention, but we must sav we think the invention of the feathers and molasses the most profoundly meritorious of all yet. Newspapers, Demagogues and the People. ' Our country is full of newspapers, giving information and proposing ideas upon all subjects. The people are great readers. This is all right; but is it not a fact that the people permit editors to do too much thinking for the people? An editor has no more right to think for others, than has a neighbor of any other trade, profession or business. Yet how true is it that in political matters particularly, there is a universal tacit admission upon the part of readers, that the party editor has the right to think for them. ' There are a few men in every community who make it their business to speak for the people.

In political matters they are the oracles of the people. Hypocritical and unprincipled, regarding the people as mere animals, understanding how easily impressions are made upon unreflecting minds, they become leaders demagogues. The mass of the people are laborers. When the man who has worked hard all day, comes home to rest, he either takes up 'a paper and reads, or goes to hear a lecture or speech. He reads, or hears, but without reflection. Impressions made upon his mind assume- the character of truths: he becomes a follower. ' ' . If the people thought more of themselves, and consequently thought more' for themselves, we believe the nation would be just as respectable, and just as safe from ruin. jtSTThe oldest inhabitant says ho never saw so many sleighs, sleds and jumpers, as have been on the streets during the last week. : The fine sleighing brought them all out. &3TA. fire occurred in Marion, in this State, on the 29lh, by which the Railroad House, kept by Frederick Love, was burned to the ground, and nearly all the contents destroyed. No insurance. We are under obligations to Hon. S. W. Parker, Hon. W. S. Barry, of Miss., and Hon. T. A. Hendricks, for valuable congressional favors!

PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL. Januarv 29, 1855. The Council met at 6 o'clock P. M. Present all the members. . 'Mr. Stumph, sexton of the grave yard, was arraigned upon the following charges: 1st, of extortion in his office,' by demanding a fee for opening the gate of said yard; and 2nd, of malconduct in office, by refusing to let H. C. Woodward and Wm. U. Patten drive through the gate of said yard, on the 15th day of January, 1855. Said charges were not sustained by the following vote, (a vote of two-thirds of the members present, being necessary to sustain the charge) those who voted in the affirmative are Messrs. Avery, Boaz, Colley, Graydon, Gowan, Jones, Karns, Maguire and Nelson. 9. In the negative, Messrs. Dunlap, Keeley, Seibert, Pitts and Trucksess. 5. On motion of Mr. Colley, the property owners were permitted to use the posts lately erected, and also to fix the said walks at their own expense. ' Mr. Karns offered the following resolution: Resolved, That the Clerk of the City call on Mr. Moffatt and request that he report to the Council at the next meeting, the cause of such irregularity in the town clock, and state whether it is not in his power to so regulate it as that it may answer the purpose intended by the citizens when they submitted to be taxed for its construction, and cause it to keep regular time. Adopted. ' The Marshal was instructed to notify the occupant of the house on Indiana Avenue wherein there is a case of small pox, to post up a red flag; and he was also authorized to furnish provisions for said occupant at the expense of the City. James M. Ray was elected a School Trustee. Dr. John M. Gaston was elected a member of the Board of Health. The City Attorney reported that, in his opinion, the council has not power to vacate lots on subdivisions of out lots, the power, by statute, being vested in the County Commissioners. Mr. Graydon offered the following resolution. . Resolved, That the Finance Committee be authorized to borrow money, or make an arrangement wiin the Treasurer to take Stock paper at its proper discount, sufficient to pay the amount due from the city for the purchase of fire bells. Adopted. Adjourned.