Cheyenne Transporter. (Darlington, Indian Terr.), Vol. 6, No. 9, Ed. 1, Sunday, February 15, 1885 Page: 3 of 10
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OLD TICNODKltOGA.
Traditions of tlio Fort That Occupied a Con-
spicuous riiu'o in the Revolutionary War.
Ono should establish himself at the
pretty village of Ticonderoga up the
outlet of Lake George where one finds
good hotels and all the amenities.
Lake George is throe miles away on
the south and Lake Cham plain two
miles on the east while at the door in
the falls of the outlet is almost every
variety of form that falling water can
assume. This ouMot as it leaves Lake
George is a considerable mill-stream
of clear cold water sparkling and
murmuring among meadows until
reaching the village it falls 250 feet
in as many yards covering almost at
a leap the' difference in level between
the two lakes. In its natutal state
the cataract must have been a romantic
picture but its waters are now so ob-
stucted by dams and vexed by mill-
wheels that much of their beauty has
vanished.
The great feature of interest how-
ever is old Fort Ticonderoga. As one
glides from the outlet into the lake he
sees over a marsh on the left a gaunt
craggy promontory rising abruptly
out of the water and stretching back
into the forest a well-dclincd wall or
trap 100 feet above the level of the
lake. The railway coming up from
Whitehall pierces the barrier by a tun-
nel. On the right in the curve of the
bay formed partly by this promontory
is the dock where the large steamers
land their passengers for lake George.
'This promontory is Ticonderoga one
of the most historic soots in America.
Clambering up its ledges to the sum-
mit one finds a green slightly-rolling
plateau with black rocks outcropping
.here and there among the grass and
in the center gaunt and ranged walls
of masonry. In some of them
embasures still gape and beside
them moat and sally-port north and
west bastions parade and barracks
arc still traceable. A little further
east where the dill' projects over
the wafer may bo defined tho outlines
of a redoubt. " Sheep are feeding now
anion"; the grim ruins and one mav
linger all day without being disturbed
by any chance passer. It is a strange
eventful history that of this rock.
When the French engineers of Baron
Dieskau first selected it and raised
here the walls of their Fort Carillon
they did it to command the great high-
way between the English colonies on
the south and their own dominion ot
Canada a highway which making use
of the Hudson and the two lakes-
George and Champlain gave almost
uninterupted water communication
between the St. La.vrenceand the At-
lantic at New York. And so it came
about that all the wars between these
French and English colonies resolved
themselves into a struggle for the po-
ssession of this commanding rock in
like manner it became the first point
aimed at and won by the American
colonies in their later struggle with
England for their independence.
Strange memories cluster about the
gray old ruin which a dreamy Ooto-
berday is apt to revivify. First one
thousand gay Frenchmen in blue coats
and half as many Iroquois in war-paint
and feathers march away up the out-
let toward Lake George bound on the
congenial errand of a midnight as-
sault on some unguarded forUcss or
sleeping settlement. But in a few
days come streaming back broken
defeated'. They have met Johnson
and the provincials at Fort William
Henry at the head of the lake. Next
Vaudrouil conies on the same errand
wading through the March snows but
is broken on the same sturdy barrier.
But the Frenchmen will porsist and
five months later Montcalm with
pennons waving over eight thousand
men in aims conies up the lake bound
to sweep tho English from George.
He does it but the year is hardly out
ere Ambercrombie with fifteen thous-
and Englishmen sits down before tho
fori and demands itssurrondcr. There
is a heavy fight but tho English re-
treat only to appear tho next year
under an "abler general and overthrow
the French power in America.
Under English rule tho old fort saw
peaceful days. Tho quiet lakes wero
no more the field of contending na-
tions. Iroquois and Mohawks went
no more on tho war-path. A corpor-
al's guard of forty men lounged about
tho crumbling ramparts watched tho
lizard basking in the sally-port drank
King George's health and shuilled
cards on unused drum-heads. Then
came the morning of tho 10th of May
1775 when in the gray dawn a motley
band of frontiersmen in backwoods
g.ub headed by one Ethan Allen of
Bennington swarmed over tho para-
pets and drew up on the parade. We
should like to have seen the expression
of the old red-faced martinet who
commanded when confronted by this
of farmers and ordered to surrender
"In the name of the great Jehovah
and the continental congress."
One more eventful action took place
here and then the old pile was re-
legated to its present state of desola-
tion. Early in July 1777 Burgoync
lvft Crown Point on his famous inva
sion of New York and one of his first
acts was to encircle Ticonderoga with
his forces. Out yonder in the lake lie
his frigate and gun-boats cutting oil
communication by water. And here
toward Lake George Gen. j'liillips lias
seized Mount Hope cutting oil retreat
in that direction. St. Clair in com-
mand has not force enouirh to man
one-half the batteries. By the fifth
day the fort is nearly invested. Phillips
taken possession of Mcunt Defiance
here on the southwest so high and so
near to the fort that he can count
every man and gun in it and is put-
ting guns in position. St. Clair holds
a council of war and decides to retreat.
At 2 o'clock on the morning of Juhgti
tho garrison is in motion stealing
away quietly up the lake shores to-
ward Castleton and away from the
eager besiegers. The hot pursuit was
without result.
This was the last incident of moment
in the history of Fort Ticonderoga.
On Burgoyno's defeat at Saratoga the
English" abandoned the fort and again
reoccupied it in 17.S0. Then came the
year 178:3 and Ticonderoga became as
useless as the child's toy to the full-
Acw lurk livening rose.
grovu man.
The Kroomen.
And now something about my fel
low-passengers the Kroomen whose
presence on the Nile at this juncture
forms an interesting episode in this ex-
pedition writes a correspondent of
The Liverpool Post. The day before wo
were to start Maj. Smyth the senior
ollieer in charge of the men had gone
on to Wady Haifa with 809 of them
"leaving M;y. Tyndalo to bring up the
men remaining at Shellal to aid in get-
ting up tho Nile boats or "wharvers"
as they are technically called. The
major part of our lot were on a baryc
owed by the Fayum and one man in
each of the twenty-four whalers we
took in tow. In getting the latter to-
gether and past three steamers before
they were made fast to the stern of the
barge we were to tow up these black-
skinned boatmen gave mo an exhibi-
tion of their skill. The twenty-four
whalers were lashed two together and
a tow-line was passed down six of the
pairs of boats and up the other six
each line being made fast to the barge.
This brought the squadron four
abreast. Awkward as such a string
of boats must have been to manage in
a strong current it was piloted outside
the three steamers named without a
jolt or bruise and in the quietest man-
ner. The agility and experience thus
shown by the Kroomen augured well
lor their usefulness in the work they
had come so far to do. A number of
men occupied the forward deck of
the steamer giving me an opportunity
of observing the men more closely.
1 obtained from Mai. Tvndale many
interesting facts relative to getting the
men Pon the west coast of Africa
and his and Maj. Smythc's early ex-
perience with them. The president of
the republic of Liberia refused permis-
sion to recruit in his territory as the
policy of the republic w as against war-
like expeditions. Tho men obtained
came from Sierra Leone Monrovia
Grand Bassa Hereby Half Bereoy
Taboo river and Grand Taboo. The
men wore engaged for six months or
longer for boat service only their pay
being head man 2s. Gd. per day; sec-
ond head man 2 shillings and pri-
vates 1 shilling per day. When first
engaged saving a cloth around their
loins they were naked. Tho first day
out each man was supplied with a na-
val rig-out one jumper ono jersey
two Uannol shirts two pairs of trousers
and cloth cap all dark blue. Tho men
wore their clothes as if they had been
used to them all their days and when
they got them they were particular to
have them properly marked. Whether
in the garments of'tho white man they
were desirous of acquiring his color
also 1 did not ascertain but if wash-
ing could accomplish it they ran ev-
ery chance of success. 1 never went
forward among them without finding
some two or three of them stark na-
ked lathering themselves all over and
scrubbing away most earnestly. The
funniest thing however was their
names. It was necessary for them to
sign an agreement and also for their
names to be entered on tho pay-list.
Their own outlandish names were al-
most unpronounceable as Maj. 'pyn-
dale told me. As an illustration he
called aft several of the men
and made them repeat to me
their African cognomens. One said
he was called something which sound-
ed like "Oolah" and "Wadah" and
the rcst"Kakana" "Dwa" "Dabwa"
and so forth. Many of the men had
already either adopted names or been
given them by sailors of the vessels
trading on their coasts. 1 Iiese were
used but others had to bo invented for
the occasion. Looking over the list 1
found among the names the following:
Teapot Tom Peter Jim George
Jack Everyday Jack llopeyarn Pea
Soup Tom Two-Glass Sea-Breeze
Bottle Beer Ginger Beer Jack Go
Ashore Jack Never Fear Flying Jib
Upside Down Jack Smart All Day
Black Man's Trouble Spy Glass Jack
Bay of Rice etc. One was called
John Bright and another .John Wesley.
There was a prince among the lot
the son of the king of Grand Berebv
bearing the nameof Bob Ridley. Both
king and prince signed with a cross
as did also King George of Monarch.
The signature or countersign of these
monarehs was necessary to make the
engagement binding on the men.
The ollieers in charge after the men
were clad endeavored to drill them in
something like order and considering
that they had been together only a
fortnight their success was marvelous.
An amusing ililliculty occurred m
teaching them to distinguish right
from left it was got over however
not like the Irish drill sergeant did by
"hay-foot" "straw-foot" but "smali-
pox arm" for left as the men had all
been vaccinated on that arm and
"slash-arm" for right the one used
for their knives. 'Toward the close of
the-journey some of tho men evidently
had become somewhat homesick.
A Senator's Monkey Story.
. Senator Ransom tells this story: An
Italian organ-grinder came to his scc-
tioi of the state. He brought tho tra-
ditional and inevitable monkey along.
After some mournful melodies the
beast in a sadly comical way hopped
around among the crowd soliciting
money. A big countryman upset the
tin cup and culled the money. The
enraged Italian in his peculiar lingo
bet the man that his monkey could
whip him. The wager was $50 and
the man was to encounter the missing
link with a stick. Armed with a
heavy bludgeon the bully professed
his readiness for the fray. The Italian
danced his animal up and down and
in broken English said: "Gentlemen
my monkey is little but he is worse
than a tiger. 1 have taught him some
tricks that a tiger does not know. He
has whipped many a big man. If my
monkey shall bite oil' the nose of his
enemy or scratch out bis eyes or cut
his throat no blame must attach to
me. So wo will bc-in." The man
with the (dub was visibly aPocteil by
this speech. He instinctively put his
hand over his nose half shaded his
eyes while a great gulp came into his
th oat. To the astonishment of the
crowd greedy for a novel rumpus and
careless of the consequences he tossed
aside his stick and blustered out:
"Take oil' your confounded devil of a
monkey and I'll pay the 50?" The
wily Italian by a bold stroke of diplo-
macy not unworthy of a Cavour filled
his purse and saved his monkey whose
skull would have been split at the first
pass. Washington Cor. Augusta (da.)
Chronicle.
The average price of milch cows in
Indiana is $8.3 in Illinois 835 in Ohio
83G.50 in New Jersey $3i).33 in New
York $30.33 in California 83b and in
Colorado $40. GO. The average for the
United States is $31.37 per head
'lucre are 13.501.200 milch cows in all
ho states.
Street-Car Ethics.
Temptations to natural cupidity arc
never wanting but the street-car fur-
nishes a most practical illustration in
the matter of half-fare;? to children.
The teaching which children receive
from many parents who would be
shocked if notconsidercd highly moral
if it docs not develop into first-class
rascalit' must be neutralized by God
sti etching out His hand to save the
helpless or fail of any etlect because
they are too inattentive or stupid to
heed the parental teaching and exam-
ple. To those compelled'to obscive it
there can be no surprise at the respect-
able family and church character of
many of our high-toned scandals. Tho
bent given to plastic childhood will
not be straightened out in manhood
by any fear of the penitentiary.
We have with pain witnessed an
humble scene both for mother and
child in their combined ellbrts to cheat
the -'oiuluctor. jNor has this surprise
bd'ii lessened in knowing that many
reputable-looking mothors actuall' set
cupidity to the work of helping tho
natural bent of childhood to falsehood
for the reward of a half-faie. When
the conductor conies round and re-
ceives from the mother si fare and a
half he says "Where is your child?"
"Here he is" is replied. He looks
amazed as does evervbodv else to
learn that the half-grown youngster is
under five years. He asks the infant
"How old are you?" to which it re-
plies "Four 3'cars" looking out for tho
future that still they may keep a margin
to travel oil. The mother is not dis-
concerted at the skepticism of the con-
ductor nor is her youngster well-
trained in the ethics that there can be
no harm in cheating a corporation.
Wo have seen in one of our exchanges
a like experience which runs as fol
lows and shows that our judgement
is not exceptional :-
"J know a young boy who is being
simply ruined in his education by his
mother. He is eight years old with
all the noble instincts of probity and
obedience which generally character-
ize a boy's nature. This tender parent
has instructed him that whenever ho
gets on a car tho appearance of the
conductor to collect money for his fare
reduces his age under live. He has
been educated to give that figure when
asked by anybody who wants to col-
lect money' for his transportation.
Last week a friend of the family was
displaying his interest in the child by
t i . j l i' 11
inquiring ins age. jiio utile ieuow
hesitated for a moment and then look-
ed up at hi- mother: "Mamma is he a
conductor?" 'No child.' Then 1 am
eight years old."
'But a stranger fact if possible is
how soon a metamorphosis into man-
hood or womanhood takes place when
a seat is to bo occupied. That baby
which for half-fare ought to stand by
his mother's knee or sit on her lap
spreads itself over a whole seat.
Weary men and aged women may
stand. A woman who will leach her
child to do this meanness for a half-
fare will be just selfish enough to lot
hem stand. Fraud is always cruel.
Presbyterian.
Liquor in the Army.
Gen. McClellan found it dittieult to
prevent the sale of liquor to soldiers
and finally gave orders that the stock
of any one violating the regulations
should be summarily destroyed. Tho
next night the provost guard visited
Springman's hotel on Pennsylvania
avenue and destroyed nearly $20U0
worth of liquors of various kinds. Tho
cnnird went into the cellerof tho estab-
Fishment where most of the liquor was
stored and stove in the heads of tho
casks and barrels pouring their con-
tents upon the lloor forming a pool
deep enough to lloat a bateau. Tho
Columbia restaurant kept by Joseph
IMatz situated on the square below
was noxt overhauled by the guard and
the liquor found on the premises served
in the same manner 'flic atmosphere
in the neighborhood of the Springman
house was fragrant with the odor of
whisky brandy gin and cordials and
was snilVed up by the several old topers
standing near with peculiar satisfac-
tion. lien: Perky Poore.
Col. Edward Richardson who is
connected with the New Orleans ox-
position runs twenty-three cotton
plantations each between ono and
two thousand acres with one laborer:
to every ten acres.
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Maffet, Geo. W. Cheyenne Transporter. (Darlington, Indian Terr.), Vol. 6, No. 9, Ed. 1, Sunday, February 15, 1885, newspaper, February 15, 1885; Darlington, Indian Territory. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc70600/m1/3/: accessed April 28, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.