Marshall County Independent, Volume 5, Number 10, Plymouth, Marshall County, 17 February 1899 — Page 3

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As t mu r vi br; f4 !it hi tjfj En rrf Of fca jCeTi m cauiu, ats lw in ar; c rw r fr By fr our :nr. ' f r. fc fen M fm v-ti'; terra rj WASHINGTON ANGRY. BUT DID HE SWEAR AT BATTLE OF MONMOUTH? Tradition Affirms That He l'ed an Oath fie Certainly llad SiiRlclent Provocation for Strong Language Gener: Lee the Victim. IiADITION says 3 that on one occa sion the father of his country so far forgot his religious training and principles as to have used an oath. Profanity does not comport with the generali' accepted character of George Washington, and there are many who deny the tradition. It was at the battle of Monmouth where Washington is supposed to have HEX. LEE. lost his temper and swore at Gen. Charles Le? for disobeying orders and retreating, thus endangering the whole American army. If ever man -was tried, it was Washington at Monmouth, and if ever profanity was excusable it was on that occasion. Lee, according to some historians, was a designing traitor, who, envious of Washington's popularity, schemed to defeat his army. It is quite certain that he hesitated when the oath of allegiance, required by the continental congress, was administered at Valley Forge. Washington was himself administering tha cath to Lee, Greene, Stirling and others, the officers placing their ha ids on a Bible. When Washington began to repeat the prescribed oath. Lee suddenly removed his hand from the Bible, and the commander-in-chief asked why he did so. His answer was: "As to King George, I am willing GEX. WAYNE, enough to absolve myself from all allegiance to him, but I have some scruples about the prince of Wales." Even the grave Washington joined in the laugh that followed this explanation. But Lee eventully took the oath with the others, and subscribed his name to one of the blanks now on file in the archives at Washington. When the British under Clinton suddenly evacuated Philade!phia in June, 1778, and began their retreat across New Jersey, Washington, with his whole arai3rf pushed on as rapidly a3 possible to intercept them before they reached New York. Lite cm headed off the British, went into camp near the enemy on the plains of Monmouth. Lee was next to Washington in command, and there can be no doubt at this time that envy and hatred were strong factors in the breast of the subordinate. Lee's instructions were to advance early and attack the enemy as soon as they began to move, unles3 there was some powerful reason for

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not doing so. It seems that this very slight discretionary power given him furnished the pretext for his conduct. Lee had under him such men as Lafayette, Wayne and Morgan's famous riflemen. The conduct of Lee on this occasion is a puzzle to the student of human motives. At one moment he seemed in earnest and determined, at the next he was weak, hesitating and uncertain. In the council of war held at Hopewell Lee advised against the attack, and showed a very faint heart throughout the fight. When the British began to move he made a feeble attack, which was followed up by half a dozen blunders in rapid succession. He held Lafayette in check until it was too late for him to cut off some of the British army, and weakened Wayne's forces by withdrawing from him some of his best soldiers, and finally ordered a general retreat all along the line. Along a narrow pass, with a morass on either side, the Americans fled on that hot June day, pursued by the yelling Britons. The weather was so excessively warm that many of the soldiers perished from sunstroke. Washington, who was bringing up the main army to attack the British in such a way as to cut off their retreat to New York, after the cannonading early in the morning, was astonished and perplexed to hear no more firing. Anon the shouts of the victorious Britons and the occasional musket shot fell on his ears, and, with a feeling of distrust, he galloped forward, accompanied by his entire staff. They met the head of the retreating army under Gen. Lee. Just at this point, according to tradition, Washington did his "cussing." History records the first words uttered by Washington as: "Sir, I desire to know what is the reason, and whence arises this disorder and confusion?" Tradition says that mm 'm GEN. LAFAYETTE. j the sentence began with "Bj- God! sir." According to tradition, Washington, after meeting Lee, ordered Oswald's battery to unlimber and open on the enemy; that he then galloped down toward the advancing enemy, and fired his holsters at them, wheeled his horse about, rode back and formed the retreating hosts into a line of battle to meet the foe. Without doubt the father of his country was greatly provoked at Lee, and the evidence at Lee's trial shows that "hot and angry" words passed between them. But it is still a matter of doubt whether Gen. Washington swore. Such terms and colloquialisms as "Egad." "By gad" and "Zounds," a genteel sort of ofanity, were in common use in th e days, but Washington has never been accused of using them. In the midst of the excitement and confusion attending a battle, and the rallying of routed hosts under the heavy fire of a victorious enemy, it is doubtful if spoken words can be sueREMOVED HIS HAND FROM THE BIBLE. cessfully reported, and some other word may have been used by Wash

ington which his enemies distorted Into "by." Is it not more probable that the "father of his tour try," instead of swearing, made use of some sort or supplication? White with anger, and boiling over with disappointment and chagrin, what would be more natural than that he should, on meeting Lee. cry out: "My God, sir, I desire to inow what is the reason, and whence arises this disorder and confusion?" ' The man who gave rise to the rumor of the use of profanity may have been Lee himself, who was anxious to malign the man who had rebuked him on the battlefield. It was an easy matter to report his "my" as "by," and thus change the whole tenor of Washington's remarks. This theory is certainly the most reasonable as well as the most charitable, and, after an investigation of almost 120 years, it ought to be adopted. After Washington, at the risk of his life, had brought order out of chaos, and formed the routed troops into an invincible line of battle, he rode back to where Lee sat on his horse in a bad fit of sulks, and. pointing to the rallied troops, asked: "Will you, sir, command in that place?" "I will," Lee eagerly exclaimed. "Then," said Washington, "I expect you to check the enemy immediately." "Your command shall be obeyed, and I will not be the first to leave the field," returned Lee. The advancing foe was held In check. Washington brought up the remainder

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WASHINGTON ANGRY, of the army, and all that long Sabbath day the battle raged, but the Britons and their allies were defeated and stole away during the night. After it was all over, Lee demanded an apology, but Washington, instead of apologizing, placed Lee under arrest. He was tried and dismissed from command for twelve months. He never entered the army again, but sulked throughout the war and died in Philadelphia Oct. 2, 1797. How Washlncton Really Looked. From the traditions of Alexandria, and from other sources, I have tried to make up in my mind's eye a picture of George Washington as he really was. He was exceedingly tall, and, when .young, quite slender. He had enormous hands and feet. His boots were No. 13, and his ordinary walking shoes No. 12. He was a man of muscle. During his service in the army he weighed 200 pounds, and was so strong that he could lift his tent with ono hand, although it usually required the strength of two men to place it on thi camp wagon. I mean, of course, when it was folded up and wrapped around the poles. Washington could hold a musket with one hand and fire it. He was a good shot and a good swordsman. The pictures of the father of his country make one think that Washington was a brunette. His face is dark and somber. The truth Is, he had a skin like an Irish baby, and his hair was almost red. He bad a broad chest but not a full one. His voice was not strong, and during his last days he had a hacking cough. His eyes were cold gray, and it is said that he seldom smiled, although there is reason to believe that he had considerable humor about him. His noso was prominent. He was particular as to his appearance and fastidious in dress. He wore plain clothes and always kept himself well shaven, acting as his own barber. Economical, but Not Stingy. Through his letters now owned by the government one may see here and there correspondence which shows that he was very hard up at times. In 1735 he wrote that he could get no wheat on credit, and that he had no cash to pay for it. Three years later he urges a man to pay the $1,000 which h9 owes him, and says he has put off the sheriff three times already, and that ho needs this money to pay his taxes. He was not afraid to dun his debtors, and he is said to have been one of the shrewdest dealers,' among the planters of his time. He was always preaching economy to his .servants, but on thewhole was somewhat lenient, as, for Instance, he employed one man, a carpenter, making a contract with him for a year and providing therein he was to have four days in which he might get drunk about Christmas. Washington was economical, but not stingy. He could not endure waste of any kind.and he went about over his estate doing his best to stop the leaks. In one of his letters home he urges that the greatest economy be used in feeding the hay at the mansion house. The nails of the Chinese nobility sometimes attain the length of eighteen inches, being protected by long silver cases. Two persons will not be friends long If they can not forgive each other little failings. La Bruyere.

NEW HIDE-AND-SEEK.

WESTERN GAME FOR BOYS AND PONIES. Hard Runs and High Jumps The Interest That Horses Took la the Sport Riders Often Left in Creeks r Uanslnff from Bough?. One of the games boys played on horse-back in California in my day was hide-and-seek. It was exciting sport, says the New York Commercial Advertiser. As I recall incidents of the game they seem to me now to have been dangerous, but that is a mature view, which never occurred to us then. Our favorite place for the fun was on the edge of a neglected park, with a creek running through it, and another crossed a field nearby. Both of these were hard jumps, especially for some of the ponies. But there were several good jumps, five or six over three or four board fences, two over hedges, and fallen trees were innumerable. The great advantage of this place, however, was a perfectly straight road along the side of the park. We measured off a distance of about 300 yards down the road from the nearest bunch of woods. For this distance there was no obstacle except on one side, a fence too huge to take. It was the homestretck to the line we drew with ouf spurs across the road, and many were the hot races down it. For the game was to pick a boy to be "it." Usually the fastest horse decided that point. The boy who rode him had to count 100 or 200 to give the others time to scatter off into the woods, across the creeks and down any of the many side roads, paths, trails out of sight. Since everything was clear off east of the ' -"xte mark, aH the riders went off to the west before they left the main, straight road. After that they could ride any distance in any direction. But they did not go far, for the purpose of each boy was to get back either u detected to the home mark, or

STRANGEST BRIDGE IN THE WORLD.

Many and strange were the things seen by the French expedition of Bonvalot de Bonchamps in Africa, but nothing stranger than the bridge of vines over the Omo river in Abyssinia, which is pictured in BTllustration, from a photograph taken by a member of the party. In most parts of Africa bridges are undreamed of; big rivers are crossed by rafts and little ones forded. But in the mountains of Abyssinia the torrents that pour down to join the Nile are not so lightly stemmed. Over one of these the Abyssinians, who have something like a settled country and stable government, have thrown the bridge. Unlike the Brooklyn bridge or the suspension bridge at Niagara, these Abyssinian engineers had no cables, no scientific bands of steel. Instead they had only nature's growth with which to withstand nature's force. But ingenuity succeeded in the absence of other resource. It is built upon the suspenStatistics on Children. As the result of a careful investigation of 24,000 cases. Dr. Jarosie presented to the director of the Hungarian bureau of statistics the following conclusions: The offspring of parents between the ages of 20 and 23 are likely to be weak and delicate.but between 2" and 45 will probably be strong and thrive. The mother bears most robust children between her twenty-fifth and thirty-fifth year. When the mother

if seen, to ride across this line before "it" did, and he tried to ride cautiously after us, slipping along on his horse at a walk, while he peered into the woods and high brush to catch a glimpse of boy or horse. When he saw one he called the rider's name and rode for home, unless the fellow caught gave In to save the horse's wind. And if "it" called a boy from a position between home and the hiding place, this usually happened. This wasn't easy to do, however, for the lay of the land was such that the outs could work around, moving north or south from the main road and then eastward, while "it" had to hunt sometimes half a mile from home and far off on one side or the other. Then when he was off the road beating up after the sound of horses one way he would catch the rattle of hoofs from the other way or see a flying pony and would have to put back for a race to home base. It was a disgrace to let more than one or two riders in without a contest. Well-mounted men liked to be "it" so as to make high records, and of course the variety of animals was very great. All the horses, however, learned the game and enjoyed it. Indeed, it was their interest in the sport that made it dangerous, for often when a rider would not see "it" coming, the horse would, and at the familiar call would dash for home regardless of low boughs and trees close together. It was a common occurrence for a pony to get home safe, but without his mount, so common that it was a point long unsettled whether this should count safe or not. Sometimes we would agree before a game that it should, sometimes that it should not. "It" had i . be a good horseman, for his horse, put on the alert by his cautious movements, would listen and watch, and at the slightest sound of running hoofs would whirl and dart off at full speed. Fences were taken by horses with unready riders, creeks received boys who could not keep up with their horses, and brush and the limbs of trees often kept them back, suspended till help came.

sion plan, hung from big cables made of twister creepers; from these depend the uprights bearing the floor supports. The roadway is very narrow, for no one ever travels across the hiHs except with caravans of porters bearing trade goods. The skill with which the bridge is built is something marvelous. The Bonvalot de Bonchamps party set out from Djibouti, on the Red sea, and traveled across the Somali desert and the Abyssinian hills to join Marchand at Fashoda, which he reached from the west coast. Thus they planned to throw a strip of French soil right across the dark continent. It reached the head waters of the Sobat and went boating merrily down the river; but meanwhile the British gunboats reached the junction of the Sobat with tke White Nile, and the expedition is now toiling back to Djibouti. The road going out is a good deal longer than it was going in. is ten years younger than tke father the proportion of healthy children Is greatest, the chances being 10 per cent more favorable than when the parents are of about the same age. Something; Wrong. "This orchard picture is a peach," exclaimed the enthusiastic studio visitor. "But 1 intended it for an apple orchard," said the artist, plaintively. Detroit Free Press.

Society Directory.

MASONIC PLYMOUTH KILWINNING LODGE, No. 149, F. and A. M. ; meets first and third Friday evenings of each month. Win. H. Conger, V. M. John Corbaley, Sec. PLYMOUTH CHAPTER, No. 49 R. A. M . ; meets second Friday evening of each month. J. C.Jilson, II. P. IL B. Reeve, Sec. PLYMOUTH COMMAXD'RY, No. 26, K. T. ; meets fourth Friday of each month. John C. Gordon, E. C. L. Tanner, Ree. PLYMOUTH CHAPTER, No. 26, O. E. S.; meets first and third Tuesdays of each month. Mrs. Bertha McDonald, M. Mrs. Lou Stansbury, Sec. ODD FELLOWS. AMERICUS LODGE, No. 91; meets every Thursday evening at their lodge rooms on Michigan street. C. F. Schearer, N. G. Chas. Bushman, Sec, SILVER STAR LODGE, Daughters of Rcbekah; meets every Friday evening at I. O. O. F. hall. Mrs. J. E. Ellis, N. G. Miss Emma Zumbaugh, V. G. Miss N. Berkhold, Sec. KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS. HYPERION LODGE, No. 117; meets every Monday night in Castle Hall. Wm. F. Young, C. C. Cal Switzer, K. of R. and S. HYPERION TEMPLE, Rathbone Sisters; meets first and third Fridays of each month. Mrs. Chas. McLaughlin, E. C. FORESTERS. PLYMOUTH COURT, No. 1 499; meets the second and fourth Friday evenings of each month in K. of "P . hall . C. M. Slay ter, C. R. Ed Reynolds, Sec. K. O. T. M. PLYMOUTH TENT, No. 27; meets every Tuesday evening at K. O. T. M. hall. D. W. Jacoby, Com. Frank Wheeler, Record Keeper. WIDE AWAKE HIVE, No. 67, L. O. T. M.; meets every Monday night at K. O. T. M.'hall on Michigan street. Mrs. Cora Hahn, Com. Bessie Wilkinson, Record Keeper. HIVE No. 2S, L. O. T. M; meets eyerv Wednesday evening in K. O. T. M. hall. Mrs. W. Burkett, Com. ROYAL ARCANUM. Meets first and third Wednesday evenings of each month in Simons hall. J. C. Jilson, Regent. B. J. Lauer, Sec. WOODMEN OF THE WORLD. Meets first and third Wednesday evenings of each month in K. of P. hall. T. (). Pomerov, C. C. E. Rotzien, Clerk. WOODMEN CIRCLE. PLYMOUTH GROVE, No, 6; meets every Friday evening at Woodmen hall. Mrs. Lena Ulrich, Worthy Guardian. Mrs. Chas. Ilammcrel, Clerk. MODERN WOODMEN. Meets second and fourth Thursdays m K. of P. hall. J. A. Shunk, Venerable Consul. C. L. Switzer, Clerk. BEN HUR. Meets every Tuesday. W. H. Gove, Chief. Chas. Tibbetts, Scribe. G. A. R. MILES II. TIBBETTS POST, G. A. R., meets every first and third Tuesday evenings in Simons hall. W. Kelley, Com. Charles Wilcox, Adjt. COLUMBIAN LEAGUE. Meets Thursday evening, every other week, 7.30 p. m., in Bissell hall. Wert A. Bcldon, Commander. Alonzo Stevenson, Pro vost. MODERN SAMARITANS. Meets second and fourth Wednesday evening in W. O. W. hall. S. B. Fanning, Pies. J. A. Shunk, Sec. MARSHALL COUNTY PHYSICIANS ASSOCIATION. Meets first Tuesday in each month. Jacob Kaszer, M. D., President. Novitas B. Aspinall. M. DM Sec

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