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Valley Spirit: May 26, 1869 Go To Page : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

To Young Men
(Column 08)

Summary: Paper advising young men to develop steady business habits.

The Coming Girl
(Column 08)

Summary: The paper predicts that the woman of the future will be politically engaged and independent. "She will vote, will be of some use in the world, will cook her own food, will earn her own living, and will not die an old maid."

Origin of Article: Church Union

Grant a Failure
(Column 02)

Summary: Points out how Republicans are getting more frustrated with Grant. Denounces his cabinet selections again as well as reiterating Grant's unfitness for the presidency. Claims corruption and favoritism are as rife as ever and only a complete overhaul in the government will allow any change.

Full Text of Article:

The trumpets have ceased to blow. We mean the Radical trumpets. They do not give forth any sound of praise. They are apparently determined on leaving the President to "blow his own horn." The diligent observer of events will recollect the sickening flattery which was heaped upon him three months ago. Radical journals vied with one another in the attempt to exalt him in closest proximity to the skies. He was not only Moses but equal to Moses and Joshua combined. He had spoken nothing, but his silence was construed to mean profundity of thought.

Notwithstanding the fact that he had rolled in the gutters and begged "quarters" in the streets of Galena, his sobriety was contrasted with the intemperate habits of his predecessor. He was held up to public admiration as the purest of the pure. We were triumphantly told that at last we had obtained a President who combined the best capacity, the most perfect integrity and a will of iron. Throughout the Union, rang the joyous news that the days of corruption were ended. "Rings" were to be broken up. The shameful extravagance which had marked the administration of the government during the war was to be stopped at once. The thieves who were plundering the public Treasury were to be driven out and punished. Wickedness was no longer to be allowed to rule in high places. Strict integrity was to be required in every official position as the badge of merit.

But times have changed since then. Radical journalists seem to have awakened from this pleasant dream in which they had been indulging. "The promised land" seems to be yet afar off. Grant turns out to be more of a man than a God after all. He seems to have the weakness of frail human nature about him.

Vague hints are being thrown out that he, too, loves his "toddy." The nation is aware by this time that he is fond of presents and that the larger the gift the more he loves the giver. The men who received the applause of the people, soon after the close of the war, for their unselfish generosity in rewarding the conquering General with munificent presents, it now turns out, had the sagacity to see that this same General would ride into power on this tide of military glory, and, when possessed of power would return their gifts to them, "some thirty, some sixty and some an hundred fold." In this they have not been disappointed. Everybody who gave Grant anything has received an office. The way to reach him is through his pocket. The people, plain, simple, old-fashioned people as they are, are beginning to ask, in what do these presents differ from bribes? And no satisfactory answer has yet been given.--Hence Grant's honesty is at a discount.

Again, this mysterious man who shut himself up in utter secrecy is not credited with as much ability as he was a short time ago. He is supposed to be quiet now, not because of depth of thought, but because he really has nothing to say. In what he has said and done, he has betrayed such woful ignorance of law and common sense as to convince everybody that he is not "the right man in the right place."

His will, too, does not seem to be made of iron. Like clay in the hands of the potter, he seems to be in the hands of a few personal friends. They have moulded him to suit their own purposes. He is undecided as to what plan he should adopt and, when adopted, he hesitates and doubts as to the propriety of carrying out his plan.

The same frightful extravagance exists in every department of the Government.--Whisky rings and other rings are just as formidable as in the days of Johnson's administration. Thieves are still putting their hands into the public crib. Government officials are growing rich upon the perquisites and "pickings" of their offices. The purity which was to mark the administration of Grant has not yet been seen.

Meanwhile, the President has surrounded himself with a set of fossils as his constitutional advisers. The Cabinet, strange mixture as it is, is composed in the main of very respectable gentlemen, but they seem to know very little about running the Governmental machine and have utterly failed to command the confidence of the people. Hence there has been thunder all around the sky. The political papers in sympathy with the President have denounced the Cabinet in unmeasured terms. Both in the West and in the East, the cry has gone up for a change.

And to make his administration more unpopular, Grant keeps himself shut up as if he were in camp. His sentinels keep guard. All the military regulations are observed. Instead of the observance of the simple manners of the President of a republic, the White House exhibits the show and glitter which remind one of "the pomp and pageantry of war." The attendants are arrogant and supercilious, evidently regarding everybody in the walks of civil life as an inferior.

The New York Herald which has been a steady supporter of Grant ever since his nomination, takes occasion to denounce in scathing language this feature of Grant's administration. The people are evidently disappointed with Grant. By the time his term of office expires, they will come to the conclusion that it would have been far better for them and for him to have allowed him to remain in the position of General of the Armies of the United States.

Attorney for the Building Association
(Column 01)

Summary: The Directors of the Chambersburg Building Association elected F. S. Stumbaugh to replace George Eyster as attorney for the organization.
(Names in announcement: F. S. Stumbaugh, George Eyster)

New Building Association
(Column 01)

Summary: The German citizens of Chambersburg have come together to make plans to form another building association. The paper applauds the idea. "The laborer who thus weekly puts aside a small sum of money, will find, in the course of a few years, an amount which will aid him materially in any business he may see fit to engage."

Internal Revenue
(Column 02)

Summary: George J. Balsley, Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue for Chambersburg, will be collecting income taxes and special taxes during the first week of June. Licenses should also be paid at that time.
(Names in announcement: George J. Balsley)

Mercersburg Classis
(Column 02)

Summary: The ecclesiastical Judicatory of the German Reformed Church met in Mercersburg on May 13th. Ministers attended from Franklin and surrounding counties and elected the Rev. John W. Lowe president. The churches reported 6,000 new members, an increase of more than 300 since last year. Benevolent contributions totalled $3,558.
(Names in announcement: John W. Lowe)

Decoration Day
(Column 02)

Summary: Calls on all residents to participate in the new tradition of Decoration Day to honor fallen soldiers. Prints the program for the event.

Full Text of Article:

We desire to call the attention of our readers again to the propriety of a general observance of the day set apart for honoring the memories of our dead soldiers. Let every resident of the borough and friend of the soldiers be present. Every consideration which can be of weight with generous minds prompts to it. Respect, gratitude, love, impel to a universal showing of our appreciation of their services and regard for their fame. Who, of our community, has better earned the poor tribute of an annual visit and the offering of a few flowers, than the dead soldier, whose life contributed to the preservation of the land? It is but little we can do, but let us not suffer that little to be undone, much less to be performed sparingly or grudgingly. As John Adams foresaw that Independence Day would become a day of rejoicing, a time for bonfires and illuminations, it is safe to predict that the American people, out of the fulness of their hearts, will enroll in the list of their festal days this newly consecrated Day of Decoration. Year by year its observance will grow more binding, and gathering the citizens of the Republic as it annually recurs, will draw them away from the selfish occupations of their daily lives to the pure and ennobling duty of rendering honor to the preservers of all they have and all they are. We give below the programme of the exercises for the day as furnished us by the marshal:

Order of Exercises.--The different Societies will assemble at the Court House, on Saturday afternoon, May 29th, at 3 1/2 o'clock.

The procession will form on Market street, right resting on Front: the returned soldiers on the right.

The Route of Procession will be as follows:--Down Front street to the Presbyterian Cemetery; thence to the Catholic Cemetery; up Second street to Washington, out Washington to the German Lutheran Cemetery; countermarch to second, out Second to United Brethren Cemetery; thence to Catharine street and up to the German Reformed Cemetery; down Front to Market, up Market to Franklin, thence to the Cedar Grove Cemetery, where an address will be delivered by Rev. Samuel Barnes.

Appropriate services will be held at each of the Cemeteries. The Silver Cornet Band and Zouave Drum Corps will furnish music for the occasion. Col. J. G. ELDER,
Marshal

Border Counties' Convention
(Column 03)

Summary: Chairman William C. McKnight announces that a convention of the war damage claimants from the Pennsylvania border counties will meet in the Chambersburg Court House on June 7th.
(Names in announcement: William C. McKnight)

Our New Lock Up
(Column 03)

Summary: A quasi-rebellion has broken out among Chambersburg's law enforcement community over funding cuts. A new lock-up is being constructed for vagrants and drunkards that will allow detention at a lower cost to the county. Two African American porters, Sam Carter and Fred Myers, have been hired to aid in rounding up vagrants and hauling them in push-carts to the new one-room lock-up.
(Names in announcement: Capt. McGowan, Sam Carter, Fred Myers)

History of the Ceremonies Connected with the Deposit Made in the Corner Stone of the Central Presbyterian Church
(Column 04)

Summary: Account of the ceremonies at the May 25th cornerstone laying at the Central Presbyterian Church, Chambersburg. A box was placed in the cornerstone containing a copy of the day's speeches, a list of church members, officials, and donors, and current newspaper issues.
(Names in announcement: Rev. J. A. Crawford, Elizabeth J. Clark, Sarah Wilson, James F. Kennedy, James C. Austin, James A. Reside, H. L. Reed, E. D. Reid, Mrs. E. D. Reid, A. H. McCulloh, Alice E. McCulloh, Mary E. McCulloh, W. Blair Gilmore, I. H. McCauley, Joseph McClure, John R. Orr, John L. Grier, Rev. Thomas Creigh, Rev. W. A. West, J. E. McLanahan, Preston R. Austin, Alma Cassel, Edith Boyle, Susan Elliott, Rev. I. N. Hays, Jacob Fetter, W. Hopkins, William Clark, H. H. Elliott, Hugh Auld, J. C. Austin, Rev. S. S. Mitchell, Rev. T. Creigh, Rev. J. W. Wightman, Col. O. N. Lull, William T. Speer, John M. Gilmore, John L. Barr, S. D. Button, G. Robert Nixon, Edward Fetter, B. Frank Gilmore, Mrs. A. Lull, Miss R. Austin, Julia Reed, Annie Reid, Minnie Fetter, Mary A. Schofield, Mrs. Emma Elliott, Beckie Austin, George Noftaker, R. J. Hays, Carrie V. Reside, Jennie Anderson, John Snider, B. Frank Evans, William Hopkins, Sarah Hopkins, Eliza Durborow, Martia Durborow, Mary Cassel, Annie E. Cassel, Elizabeth A. Reid, Annie Reid, Henry H. Elliott, Mary M. Reside, Mrs. S. E. Austin, Maria Fetter, Elizabeth J. Clark, Henry L. Reed, Charlotte Reed, Sarah Clark, Mrs. Maggie Orr, Mrs. Ellie Gilmore, Isabella Fry, Mrs. Elizabeth B. McCulloh, Annie Anderson, Abigail Lull, Alcesta L. Gilmore, Rebecca H. Hays, Rebecca J. Hays, William Gillan, Mrs. Mary Gillan, Mrs. Jane Barr, Mrs. Ann Brown, Mrs. Rebecca McKee, Mrs. Cilinda Speer, Thomas A. Allen, Ada Over, Charlotte Schofield, Jennie M. Over, Mrs. Nancy Lightcap, Sarah J. Walker, John W. Smith, Thomas Kirby Gilmore, Minnie Boles Cassel, Annie Leole Cassel)

Married
(Column 07)

Summary: William Bluebaugh of Funkstown and Mrs. Sarah Knepper of Quincy were married on May 20th by the Rev. John Fohl.
(Names in announcement: William Bluebaugh, Sarah Knepper, Rev. John Fohl)

Married
(Column 07)

Summary: George K. Duke and Miss Jennie E. Mell, both of Shippensburg, were married on May 20th by the Rev. W. A. Houck.

Married
(Column 07)

Summary: Franklin Etter of Marlon and Miss Sarah Hollinger of Antrim were married on May 20th by the Rev. A. C. Folker.
(Names in announcement: Franklin Etter, Sarah Hollinger, Rev. A. C. Folker)

Married
(Column 07)

Summary: Isaac Burkholder of Southampton and Miss Sarah Ann Dyarman of Letterkenny were married on May 20th at the Hamilton residence of John Walker by the Rev. Shisty.
(Names in announcement: Isaac Burkholder, Sarah Ann Dyarman, John Walker, Rev. Shisty)

Married
(Column 07)

Summary: David Alter and Miss L. Dutton, both of Chambersburg, were married on May 16th at the Church of God by Elder D. Townsend.
(Names in announcement: David Alter, L. Dutton, Elder D. Townsend)

Died
(Column 07)

Summary: William Shillito died in Chambersburg on May 22nd after an illness of seven weeks. He was 73 years old. "Some six months ago, the deceased in old age embraced, as a matter of most happy personal experience, the religion of Jesus. From that glad hour to the moment of his death, his soul reposed so serenely, triumphantly and constantly in Christ, that 'twould almost seem that he was scarcely so much as even tempted either to practical evil doing or spiritual doubt."
(Names in announcement: William Shillito)