President.

characteristic of that remarkable guerrilla | Interview of a Canadian Editor with the chieftain. After Morgan had stolen the The editor of the Free Press, publishcelebrated race horse "Skedaddle," Mr. Clay started in pursuit with two fine ani- ed in Loudon, Canada, visited Washingmals, worth over five hundred dollars ton while the war was at its height, and each, and overtook the freebooter, offering thus describes an interview which he had him both of these fine horses, together with the man who was sustaining so vast with six hundred dollars in cash, if he a weight upon his shoulders at that period -President Lincoln:

Gen. John Morgan.

would give up the racer to Mr. Clay, who prized it for its particular uses very highly. "These will answer your purpose just as well," said Mr. Clay, pointing to the handsome pair he had brought with

him.

The President's private room is just over the reception room, and is entered from a sort of square hall, about which there are many waiting rooms for persons seeking audiences with the President. Upon entering this room, I saw persons walking to and fro in waiting. I at once placed in the hands of a messenger my card and letters (previously procured from friends in New York and Cincinnati), to deliver to the President, and, with scarcely a moment's delay, I was ushered into his presence, when he arose and stepped forward in a stooping position, extended his hand and shook mine kindly, but rather loosely, as if he was afraid of hurting* it, remarking, at the same time,

"I am glad to see you, Sir; be seated." "I am a stranger in the capital," I replied, "and have sought an interview with you, Mr. President, and have been much

John looked at the horses carefully, and pleased with the easy means of access."

said:

"Yes," said the President, "this ready means of access is, I may say, under our form of government, the only link or cord which connects the people with the govern

"Well, Mr. Clay, they will answer my purpose as well as Skedaddle; and as I am disposed to accommodate you Here Mr. Clay's countenance brightened. ing power; and, however unprofitable "As I am disposed to accommodate you, I will partly comply with your request ;

99

Mr. Clay was puzzled.

"I will partly comply with your request; I'll take these two horses, but I can't give you the other."

Mr. Clay was completely taken aback: -but he was not allowed to get away even that easy. The soldiers took the six hundred dollars away from him, and he was compelled to leave for home on foot with his pockets empty.

much of it is, it must be kept up; as, for instance, a mother in a distant part, who has a son in the army who is regularly enlisted, has not served out his time, but has been away as long as she thinks he ought to stay, will collect together all the little means she can to bring her here to entreat me to grant him his discharge. Of course I cannot interfere, and can only see her and speak kindly to her. How far is your place from Detroit, Sir?"

"About one hundred miles east from Detroit; we have no water communica

tions, but have a very nice inland city. I you've got it, mind you only chaw it, and intend remaining in Washington for a few spit out the skin!" The coachman and days; all seems stir and commotion here." footman looked mortified, and winked sly"Yes, there never was anything in his- ly at the bystanders, as much as to say, tory to equal this." "Rich by shoddy contracts !"

"Your position must indeed be responsible and trying, President."

"Yes, to think of it, it is very strange that I, a boy brought up in the woods, and seeing, as it were, but little of the world, should be drifted to the very apex of this great event."

"I read your proclamation of this morning, calling for more men; it will, no doubt, be filled up."

"Yes, Sir, it will be filled up."

"I thank you, Mr. President, for your kindness and courtesy,"-I said, as I rose. The President shook hands again, and said

"I am most happy to have made your acquaintance."

Rich by Shoddy Contracts.

"Aint no Business wid a Gun."

A good story is told of a colored man employed by Captain Janney, General Sherman's staff-engineer in the Army of the Mississippi: Among the company which was working under Captain J., at Memphis, there was one very active, sharp, industrious, and faithful fellow, who had left his plantation, about twenty miles off. Soon after his good qualities had attracted Janney's attention, his owner, a rank rebel, came, as they often did with complete as

Crossing the ferry between the cities of New York and Brooklyn, might have been seen, one day, a splendid equipage-prancing steeds, liveried coachman and footman, and an elegant coupe. Within was a lady dressed with uncomfortable richness. She was 'fat,' not very fair,' and something more than forty.' With her was an unlicked cub of eight or ten years, whose fine clothes seemed to be as uncomfortable for him as were the gloves, tight to bursting, upon his mother's hands. Through an open window of the carriage he espied an surance, to ask that he should be given up apple woman with her basket of fruit. to him. Janney assured him that the "Mam," cried the youthful aristocrat, "I country needed his services, and it could warnt n'arple!" "Hush up! You ain't goin' to have none!" replied the furbelowed mamma. "But wont I though, by gorry!" said the boy; at the same time throwing himself half-way out of the window, and seizing the apple, which he forth- "Where did you get it?" with commenced upon. The gentle lady "Got 'im ob my ole massa, Sah." fell back with an air of resignation, ex- "How is that? What did he give you claiming, "Well, you darned critter, now his fowling-piece for?"

not be thought of at such a time. Some weeks after this, the same negro came one morning to Janney's tent, and said:

"There's a right good fowling-piece, Captain, and I want to gib it to you."

Roger A. Pryor, of Virginia, ex-member of Congress, was one of the second deputation of secessionists that waited upon Major Anderson, commander of the fort. He was the very embodiment of Southern 'chivalry.' Literally dressed to kill, bristling with bowie-knives and revolvers,

"Didn't gib 'im me, Sah; I took 'im." red of a peculiarly Southern character. "When?" "Lass night." "Has your master been here again?" "No, Sah. I been down dah, to de ole place, myself, lass night, and I see'd de gun dah, and I tort he was a rebel, and he ort'nt to be let hab a gun, and I ort to take 'im away: tort dat was right, Captain, like a walking arsenal, he appeared to

wasn't it? He ain't no business wid a

gun, has he? Only to shoot our teamsters.wid it."

"What sent you out there?"

"Well, I went dah, Sah, for to get my wife an' chile dat war dah. I tried to get 'em nodder way, but I was cheated, and had to go myself."

"What other way did you try?"

"I'll tell you Sah. I want my wife and chile; dey was down dah on de ole plantation. Lass Sunday when we'd got our pay, I seen a white man dat libs ober dah, and he tell me if I gib him my money he get my wife for me. I had thirty dollars, Sah, and I gib it to him, but-my wife didn't come.

So I went myself.

My think himself individually capable of capwife house-servant, Sah, and I creep up turing the fort, without any extraneous to de house, and look into de windah; de assistance. Inside the fort he seemed to windah was open, and I here de ole man think himself master of everthingand de ole woman dah snorin in de corner, monarch of all he surveyed'—and, in and I put my head in and dah I see de keeping with this pretension, seeing upon gun standin' by the fi'-place, I jumped the table what appeared to be a glass of right in and coch'd up de gun and turn brandy, drank it without ceremony. Surroun' and hold 'im so. Says I, 'Massa, geon Crawford, who had witnessed the I want my wife.' 'You can take her,' feat, approached him and said: "Sir, what says he, and he didn't say anodder word you have drank is poison-it was the ionor move a bit, nor Missus either. My dide of potassium-you are a dead man." wife she heerd me, and she come down The representative of chivalry instantly wid de chile, and we just walked out ob collapsed, bowie-knives, revolvers and all, de door; but I tort I'd take de gun. He ain't no Union man, and he ortn't to had a gun, Captain. You'll take it, Sah, won't you?"

"Yes, I'll turn it in for you."

Brandy at Fort Sumter. During the cannonading of Fort Sumter under Beauregard, an incident occur

and passed into the hands of Surgeon Crawford, who, by purgings, pumpings, and pukings, defeated his own prophecy in regard to Pryor's fate, and thus saved to Beauregard one of his most petted and redoubtable confreres. Both Beauregard and Pryor went up like rockets of fire, in the war of rebellion, and came down like black sticks.

"Doughnation" from the Maine Ladies. when one morning the subscriber received The ladies of Augusta, Maine, set in a gilt-edged jocky-club scented note, reoperation and carried out a novel idea, questing his distinguished presence at the namely, the distribution of over fifty White House at a certain hour. I had no bushels of doughnuts to the Third volun- doubt that the note was from Mrs. Linteer regiment of that State. A procession coln, who I supposed wished to apologize of ladies, headed by music, passed between for the blunder that she made in my no: double lines of troops, who presented receiving her invitation to the White arms, and were afterwards drawn up in House ball. hollow square to receive from tender and So giving my boots an extra blacking, gracious hands the welcome doughnation. and my moustache an extra twist, I wendNever before was seen such an aggre-ed my way to the President's domicile. gate of doughnuts since the world began. After disposing of hat, cane, etc., I was The circumambient air was redolent of conducted into the room used for Cabinet doughnuts. Every breeze sighed-dough- meetings, and soon found myself in the nuts; everybody talked of doughnuts. presence of the President, Messrs. SeThe display of doughnuts beggared de- ward, Stanton, and Welles. Mr. Seward, scription. There was the molasses dough- whom I had met at a dinner-party at Gen. nut and the sugar doughnut-the long Risley's, in Fredonia, during the camdoughnut and the short doughnut-the paign of 1860, recognized me, and at once round doughnut and the square doughnut alluded to the excellence of Gen. Risley's -the rectangular doughnut and the tri- brandy, and proposed to Abe that he angular doughnut-the single-twisted should send over to his cellar at the State doughnut and the double-twisted doughnut Department, and get a nice article he had -the 'light riz' and the hard-kneaded there. I noticed three copies of the doughnut the straight solid doughnut, Chautauque Democrat spread out on the and the circular doughnut, with a hole in the centre. There were, in a word, doughnuts of all imaginary kinds, qualities and dimensions. It was emphatically a feast of doughnuts, if not a flow of soul.

Contraband News-an Editor before the
Cabinet.

table, bearing certain initials, which for the sake of avoiding personalities I will not mention. I also noticed ominous black lines drawn around certain passages which I recognized as being part of my letter of several weeks ago. They looked like Mr. Benton's expunged resolutions on the Senate Journal.

The editor of the Chautauque, N. Y., Democrat spent some time in Washington, Mr. Welles was so deeply engaged in and wrote home letters for publication, reading a fourth copy, that he did not look One of these was asserted to contain "con-up as I went in. It seems that the "mailtraband news," and the editor-if! his state- ing clerks," at Jamestown, had neglected ment may be believed-was summoned to furnish the Navy Department with a before the Cabinet to answer for the heinous offense. Here is his account of the affair:

So many weeks had slipped away since my friends in Jamestown commenced sending the Democrat regularly to the members of the Cabinet and Gen. McClellan, that the visions of a file of soldiers had departed from my imagination,

copy, and the Secretary was deeply absorbed in its perusal. Mr. Stanton was busy writing his recent order, thanking God and Gen. Halleck for the victory and slaughter at Pittsburg Landing, and paid no attention to my entrance.

Mr. Lincoln said: A Cabinet meeting has been called at the request of General McClellan, to consider your offence in writ

ing the letter conspicuously marked in the said, 'he must write to his brother-in-law Democrat before us, and which had been in New York, to send around a vessel to kindly furnished several of their number Hampton Roads, to watch the Merrimac, by certain patriotic and high-toned gentle- and also to send him the Weekly Post, so men in Jamestown, N. Y. But they would that he could get the news.' He chose have to delay a few minutes, to await the the Post, because he had been in the habit, arrival of the Commodore from Yorktown, aforetime, of contributing essays for its with despatches from General McClellan, columns. He also remarked that there who had telegraphed that the business was 'much valuable and deeply interestmust not go on till his despatches arrived.' ing news in the Democrat,' which was During the interval, me, and Abe, and then some four weeks old. Seward, sauntered through the rooms, Mr. Stanton here proposed that the looking at the various objects of interest. contraband article should be read, as he had On entering the library, we found that the been so busy of late, he had not read the messenger had returned from Seward's copy sent him by his patriotic correspondcellar, with some of the Secretary's best ents at Jamestown. So Mr. Seward read Auburn brand. The cork was drawn, the article through carefully. When it was and we sampled the fluid. We next visit- completed, Mr. Stanton brought his fist ed the ladies' parlor, and were presented down on the table with the energy and to "Mary," who came forward and shook vigor for which he is celebrated, and, says me cordially by the hand, and desired to he, "Them's my sentiments, by know "how I flourished?" Said "she The Secretary, contrary to the opinion of never should forgive me for not attending many who know him only by his short, her ball." She was greatly shocked to pungent, pious, pithy, patriotic and pecuhear that there had been a failure to con- liar proclamations, profanes pretty pronect, about getting the card of invitation. fusely when excited. During the reading, We were soon summoned to the council; he had been fumbling his vest pocket. the Commodore had arrived, bringing Says he, What's the price of that paper seventeen of Gen. McClellan's staff, who per annum?' I informed him that it was had been delegated by him to transmit to furnished to advance paying subscribers the President his copy of the Democrat, at $1. He handed me a gold dollar, and which he had received at Fortress Mon- says he, 'Send it along.' Mr. Welles, On opening it, the same ominous who was just then absorbed in reading ink-marks were drawn around the passa- the account of the embarkation' of the ges intended to be brought to the especial army from Alexandria, looked up and said notice of the General. The staff officers 'He had thought of subscribing himself, but then withdrew, and the President proposed as Mr. Stanton had done so, he would to proceed to business. At this juncture have George send him the Post, and they Mr. Welles looked up from the paper he could exchange.' had been so busily perusing, and inquired The President now called for an opinion of the President-'If he had ever heard from the other members of the Cabinet, anything about the fight the Democrat Mr. Stanton having voted, as I have before spoke of, between the Monitor and the remarked. Mr. Seward, who was in a Merrimac, and the danger there was of happy frame of mind, said that, Perhaps the latter getting out and coming up the it was impolitic to have written just such Potomac and bombarding Washington?' an article, as he was always opposed to Mr. Lincoln said, 'It was a fact.' The the expression of any decided opinions, Secretary seemed greatly surprised, and but he thought the editor of the Democrat

roe.