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Frontier Cavalry Trooper The Letters of Private Eddie
Matthews 1869 1874 First Edition Douglas C.
Mcchristian Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Douglas C. McChristian
ISBN(s): 9780826352262, 082635226X
Edition: First Edition
File Details: PDF, 9.87 MB
Year: 2013
Language: english
 M i l i ta r y ✯ W e s t e r n H i s t o r y
F

M c C hristian
rom 1869 to 1874 Private Edward L.
Matthews wrote a series of exceptionally detailed
and engaging letters to his family back home in

Douglas C. McChristian, a retired research

historian for the National Park Service, is the
F rontier Maryland describing his life in the Arizona and
New Mexico Territories. Eddie Matthews’s
letters, published here for the first time in their
entirety, provide an unparalleled chronicle of
author of several books on the history of the
American West, most recently Fort Laramie:
Military Bastion of the High Plains.
“ F rontier Cavalry Trooper, a newfound trea-

✯
C ava l ry T roop er one soldier’s experiences in garrison and in the
field in the post–Civil War Southwest.
Personal accounts like Matthews’s letters
sure, is the best day-to-day account of an enlisted
man in the American frontier army. In the hands The Letters were rarely written by enlisted men, many of
whom were illiterate. The few who left any sort of
record kept only simple field diaries, recording

F r o n t i e r C ava l ry T r o op e r
the day-by-day marches of troops on campaign
of editor Douglas C. McChristian, it becomes an of Private Eddie Matthews
with little color or perspective. Because
Matthews was better educated than most enlisted
instant Western classic.” 1869–1874 men, he was detailed for various periods as either
company or adjutant’s clerk and served for a time
as a company quartermaster sergeant. These
—R. Eli Paul, author of
positions frequently kept him in garrison where
Blue Water Creek and the First Sioux War, 1854–1856 he had the time and means to write home with
some regularity.
Eddie’s letters record a vivid chronicle of
day-to-day life in the frontier regulars. In this
respect, too, Eddie Matthews was exceptional.
His was not a later reminiscence clouded by time
and dimming memory. Included are operational
details in his company, candid observations of
people and places, intimate views of frontier
society, and personal opinions that probably
would have been forgotten or moderated had he
recorded his experiences later in life. More subtle
are his valuable references to the state of transpor-
university of NEW MEXICO press tation and communication in the Southwest
during the early 1870s. The keen-eyed reader will
unmpress.com 800-249-7737
note, for example, how he marks the progress of
the Kansas Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka, &
isbn 978-0-8263-5226-2
Santa Fe Railroads into the territories of Colorado

ËxHSKIMGy352 62zv*:+:!:+:!
and New Mexico, thus heralding the doom of
front jacket photograph: Courtesy of the Trustees major wagon roads like the Santa Fe Trail.
of the Boston Public Library, Print Department. Edited by
Matthews probably did not realize until later
years that he was not only a witness to the nation’s

D ouglas C. M c C hristian
jacket design: Catherine Leonardo
rapid westward expansion but was himself a tiny
cog in the machinery that made it possible.
Frontier Cavalry Trooper
 Frontier
C ava l ry T r o o p e r
The Letters
of Private Eddie Matthews
✯ 1869–1874 ✯

Edited by

D ouglas C. M c C hristian

University of New Mexico Press

Albuquerque
© 2013 by the University of New Mexico Press
All rights reserved. Published 2013
Printed in the United States of America
18 17 16 15 14 13 1 2 3 4 5 6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Matthews, Eddie (William Edward) 1851–1932.

Frontier cavalry trooper : the letters of Private Eddie Matthews, 1869–1874 / edited by Douglas C.
McChristian.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8263-5226-2 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8263-5228-6 (electronic)
1. Matthews, Eddie (William Edward) 1851–1932—Correspondence 2. Fort Union (N.M.)—
History—19th century. 3. Indians of North America—Wars—1815–1875—Biography. 4. United
States. Army. Cavalry Regiment, 8th—Biography. 5. Soldiers—United States—Correspondence.
6. United States. Army.—Military life. 7. Frontier and pioneer life—New Mexico. 8. New
Mexico—History, Military—19th century. I. McChristian, Douglas C. II. Title.
F804.F67M37 2013
978.9’56—dc23
2012037665

design and composition: Catherine Leonardo

Composed in 10.5/14 Adobe Garamond Pro
Display type is Ashwood Condensed WF, Arcana GMM Std Manuscript, Helvetica Neue LT Std
 For Jerome A. Greene

in appreciation for his friendship, guidance,

and encouragement through the years.

 Contents
✯
Illustrations viii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi

“Away from Home and Friends”

chapter one 
september–december 1869  1

“His Throat Was Cut from Ear to Ear”

chapter two 
january–april 1870 35

chapter three “ Wind, Wind, and Sand All the Time”

may–december 1870 72

“We Only Shot to Scare Them”

chapter four 
january–december 1871 125

chapter five “Have Had All the Indian Fighting I Wish”

january–december 1872 147

chapter six “ Soldiers Are Not Given to Shedding Tears”

january–june 1873 193

“I Shall Never Soldier Again”

chapter seven 
july–december 1873 242

“Every Day Is One Less for Me to Serve”

chapter eight 
january–march 1874 298

“When Eddie Comes Marching Home”

chapter nine 
april–august 1874 337

Epilogue 393
Abbreviations Used in This Volume 400
Bibliography 401
Index 409

vii
 Illustrations
✯
figure 1: William E. Matthews 184
figure 2: Recruits drilling at Carlisle Barracks 184
figure 3: Triple-tier army bunk 185
figure 4:  Fort Whipple, Arizona Territory 185
figure 5: Fort Union, New Mexico Territory 185
figure 6: Plan of Fort Union, 1877 186
figure 7: Company Quarters, Fort Union 187
figure 8: Sutler’s Store, Fort Union 187
figure 9: Las Vegas, New Mexico Territory, 1867 188
figure 10: Interior of Barracks Squad Room, ca. 1873 188
figure 11: Cavalrymen in the field, New Mexico Territory, 1867 188
figure 12: Eighth Cavalryman in the regulation full dress uniform 189
figure 13: District of New Mexico Headquarters Building, Santa Fe 189
figure 14: Gordon Granger as a Major General 189
figure 15: Plat of Fort Bascom, New Mexico Territory 190
figure 16: Colonel John I. Gregg, Eighth Cavalry 190
figure 17: First Lieutenant Edmund Luff 191
figure 18: Captain William McCleave, Eighth Cavalry 191
figure 19:  
Cavalry trooper wearing the full dress uniform
introduced in 1872 192
figure 20: Hospital at Fort Union, New Mexico Territory 192

Maps
map 1: Arizona Territory, 1870 34
map 2: Southwestern Frontier, 1865–1875 71
map 3: Fort Union Military Reservation 241

viii
 acknowledgments
✯

A uthors customarily give a nod of appreciation to their spouses at the

end of their acknowledgments, but in this instance I want to express my heartfelt
thanks to my wife, Frances, who contributed so much to this project. It was she,
in fact, who discovered the old issue of American History in which John Koster
first published a portion of the Matthews letters. She recognized that the article
would be of interest to me for another project in which I was already involved
and brought it to my attention. Neither of us could have imagined at that time
that her discovery would eventually lead to this volume. As work progressed a
few years later, Frances devoted many hours to scanning and formatting the
original typescript and proof-reading my manuscript to ensure the two agreed.
Additionally, her abilities as a native Spanish speaker proved extremely useful in
translating place names and terms found throughout the letters.
I am especially indebted to Dr. Robert L. Spude, a former National Park
Service colleague and my boss during the last few years of my career. Bob both
encouraged me to pursue this project and enthusiastically assisted by locating
Matthews family descendants, researching ownership and copyright issues,

ix
 x acknowledgments
coordinating my work with Superintendent Marie Sauter at Fort Union
National Monument, and initiating contact with the University of New
Mexico Press for publication of the letters.
Bob also located and put me in touch with John Koster, who originally
discovered and recognized the historical importance of the Matthews letters.
I am grateful to John for graciously relinquishing the copyright he held for that
portion of the letters he had previously published, and for readily supporting
my effort to bring all of the Matthews letters before the public.
Retired NPS Historian Susan Kopczyski, formerly on the staff at Delaware
Water Gap National Recreation Area, kindly took time from her schedule to
locate Eddie Matthews’ death certificate in the New Jersey state records.
As with every historical work, librarians and archivists were essential in
facilitating and assisting with my research for this book. First and foremost
among those were Librarian Tibor K. Remenyik and Park Interpreter Claudette
Norman who hosted me at Fort Union National Monument, Watrous,
N. Mex. Sara Good and Donna Humphrey at the Bucks County (Pa.)
Historical Society went beyond the call to ferret out tidbits from their collec-
tions concerning Eddie Matthews’ later life. Additionally, I appreciate the
assistance offered by the Old Military Records staff at the National Archives,
Main, Washington, D.C.; the staff at the Center for Southwest Research,
Zimmerman Library, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; the Donnally
Library staff at Highlands University, Las Vegas, N. Mex.; Archivist Jill
Ludlum with the Maryland State Archives; and the staff of the Carroll County
(Md.) Historical Society, Westminster, Md.
Daniel Kosharek, photo archivist, was most helpful and efficient in assist-
ing with my work at the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe. Jane
Winton, Print Department, Boston Public Library, and George Moore and
Russ Ronspies, at the Frontier Army Museum, Fort Leavenworth, Kans. expe-
diently processed my requests for photographs in their respective collections.
My longtime friend and colleague, R. Eli Paul, with the Kansas City
Public Library, gave the manuscript a careful critique and offered many
thoughtful suggestions for improving it. I greatly appreciate the time he
devoted to that effort.

—Douglas C. McChristian
Tucson, Arizona
 introduction
✯

T he post-Civil War era witnessed the resumption of the U.S. Army’s role
as the vanguard of the nation’s westward expansion. Acting in this role was a
daunting challenge for a force whose numbers were always inadequate for the
task, a reflection of the Founding Fathers’ predisposition against a large standing
army controlled by the central government. The volunteer force raised in response
to the Southern rebellion swelled to more than a million men, but by the end of
1865, nearly all of the units assembled had been disbanded and mustered out,
leaving the regular army at a strength of only about forty-three thousand men.
Congress increased the size of the army to some fifty-four thousand men the fol-
lowing year in an attempt to provide enough troops to both police the
Reconstruction of the South and contend with the Indian situation in the West.
But in 1869, a parsimonious Congress burdened with wartime debt dealt the
army a serious blow by directing it to consolidate its forty-five infantry regiments
to twenty-five, while retaining ten cavalry and five artillery regiments. The
army’s woes were further exacerbated by casualties, discharges, and sluggish

xi
 xii introduction
recruiting, all of which translated to a force that was consistently 10 percent
smaller than its new official strength of 37,313.
This pitifully small army was tasked with manning fortifications along
both seacoasts from Maine to Texas and from Alaska to California, besides
maintaining a couple hundred posts, arsenals, and camps scattered through-
out the interior. Frontier garrisons, geographically isolated and composed of
only one or two understrength companies, were common. Much of the trans-
Mississippi West, particularly west of the hundredth meridian, was only par-
tially settled, with enormous tracts of land still entirely devoid of non-Indian
inhabitants. The regulars, therefore, were tasked with protecting routes of
travel and communication and dealing with recalcitrant tribesmen residing in
the territories.
Many of the men who joined the regular army in the latter 1860s were
Civil War veterans who had found that military life agreed with them. A high
percentage of new recruits were recent foreign immigrants, while men unable
to find employment in the postwar economy constituted another large seg-
ment. Throughout the rank and file was a smattering of young, adventure-
seeking Americans who had not reached military age during the war, but were
motivated to enlist after hearing of thrilling experiences told by their veteran
relatives. Still others had encountered problems at home or with the law and
sought refuge in the army.
Typical of the last group, nineteen-year-old William Edward Matthews,
known to family and friends as Eddie, quickly regretted his decision to enlist
in September 1869. The regular army, noted for unquestioning obedience and
strict discipline enforced by harsh punishment, was not the army his father
had known as a member of the volunteer force during the war. However,
unlike many of his contemporaries who contributed to a notoriously high
desertion rate, Matthews resigned himself to abide by his oath and make the
best of the experience.
His parents, John and Judith Matthews, exemplified the foreign-born
immigrants who came to America during the mid-nineteenth century. Both
were natives of Cornwall County, England, a tin- and copper-mining region
on the island’s southwestern peninsula. By the age of twenty, John, like most
of the men in the area, was employed in the backbreaking, dangerous work
of a miner. Not long after his marriage to Judith Newton early in 1847, he
concluded that eking out an existence on a miner’s wages was an economic
dead end, with hardly better prospects for his offspring. Electing to cast their
fortunes in America, the Matthewses boarded a ship bound for the United
 introduction xiii

States in March 1848, shortly after the birth of their first child, Elizabeth
(“Lizzie”).1
Within two years of their arrival, the couple migrated to western Maryland’s
Allegany County, where John again found familiar work in the mines. By that
time, the Matthews family included a second child, Eddie, born in Frostburg on
April 26, 1850. John improved his status sometime during the following decade
when he became postmaster at nearby Oakland, Maryland.2
The Civil War directly impacted Allegany County in the fall of 1861, when
the Third Regiment Potomac Home Brigade, Maryland Volunteers began
recruiting five companies from among area residents. Despite his age—he was
then forty-one—and being a father of eight, John offered his services to his
adopted nation. He was readily mustered in on March 13, 1862, as the regi-
ment’s quartermaster with the rank of first lieutenant.
As soon as the regiment’s first battalion was complete, it was assigned to
General Frederick W. Lander’s division of the Army of the Potomac and
detailed to defend Harpers Ferry. Although the once-vital U.S. armory there
had been burned by Union forces and subsequently plundered of its machinery
by the Confederates, the location itself continued to be strategically impor-
tant. The town occupied a rugged point of land at the confluence of the
Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers on the Maryland-Pennsylvania border and
served as a bridge crossing for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. When General
Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia invaded Maryland in 1863, General
Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s troops handily defeated and captured the
poorly led Union garrison at Harpers Ferry. The entire Third Regiment
Potomac Home Brigade was made prisoners of war until exchanged soon
thereafter. Lieutenant Matthews’s unit later confronted General Jubal Early’s
Confederates during his invasion of the North the following year, and was
subsequently engaged in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign as a component of
General Philip H. Sheridan’s army. John returned home to his family upon his
muster out of the service in January 1865.3

1 1841 England Census, last modified 2010, Ancestry.com; England and Wales, Free BMD Marriage
Index: 1837–1915, last modified 2006, Ancestry.com; New York Passenger Lists, 1820–1957, last modi-
fied 2010, Ancestry.com.
2 1860 U.S. Federal Census, last modified 2009, Ancestry.com; 1850 U.S. Federal Census, last modi-
fied 2009, Ancestry.com; Death Certificate, William Edward Matthews, Vital Statistics, New Jersey
Department of Health.
3 Allison, Jarrett, and Vernon, Roster of Maryland Volunteers, War of 1861–5, 569–71; and McPherson,
Battle Cry of Freedom, 534–36, 756. Eddie suggests that he accompanied his father for some period of
time during the war and that experience gave him an early exposure to military life.
 xiv introduction
In addition to Lizzie and Eddie, the Matthews household by that time
included Susan M. (“Susie,” or “Sue,” b. 1852), Margaret (“Maggie,” b. 1854),
Frances (b. 1856), John J. (“Johnnie,” b. 1858), Arthur W. (b. 1860), and
George B. McClellan (“Clellee,” b. 1862), namesake of the dynamic and wildly
popular first commander of the Army of the Potomac. Frances, whose death
Eddie alludes to in a letter, was gone by 1870, apparently a victim of one of the
childhood diseases so prevalent during the nineteenth century.
Once back in civilian life, John concluded that a large family required
more income than he could earn as a postmaster in the mining regions. He
therefore decided to relocate to Westminster, a thriving town along the
Western Maryland Railway in the rolling countryside northwest of Baltimore.
John apparently discovered that his experience as an army quartermaster
suited his natural talents and it provided a foundation for his new venture as a
retail grocer. He maintained a store for a number of years, though by 1874,
business declined to the point that he had to take supplemental employment
as a shoe salesman and as a property assessor for the City of Westminster to
make ends meet.4
Eddie, not unlike other boys his age who resided in rural American
towns, spent his formative years working in the family store, attending
classes, riding horseback, ice skating, flirting with girls, and chumming with
schoolmates. Like many teenagers then and now, he was not a saint. We
know that he indulged in liquor, sometimes to excess; he also chewed tobacco
and smoked a pipe. Just what prompted Matthews to leave home is not clear,
but his letters suggest that he fell in with bad company and that those asso-
ciations led to behavior that was unacceptable, if not embarrassing, to his
parents. He also admits to having been jilted by a local girl with whom he
apparently had had a romantic relationship, though he remains close-
mouthed about the details.5
Restless by the summer of 1869, Matthews and two companions, Bill
Baumgartner and another identified only as Shorb, left home seeking

4 U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862–1918, last modified 2008, Ancestry.com.
5 A public notice in the Westminster newspaper warned the adolescents who had been smoking,
talking loudly, and running up and down stairs in the vestibule of the Lutheran Church that if
they persisted with such activities, they would be arrested. Shortly thereafter, another public notice
admonished “boys and young men” for swimming, presumably in the nude, in ponds near the rail-
road in full view of passengers. We do not know if Matthews was involved in these incidents, but the
articles reflect the sort of behavior that may have placed him at odds with his parents (Democratic
Advocate, June 17 and July 1, 1869).
 introduction xv

adventure.6 Shorb may have initiated the trip for the purpose of visiting friends
or relatives in far-off Ohio, while Baumgartner and Matthews probably tagged
along to experience something of the world beyond Carroll County. Shorb,
apparently, had always intended to return to Westminster, but Matthews and
Baumgartner decided to stay “out West” and find employment.
By late August, the trio found themselves in Cincinnati, where they dis-
covered that work was more difficult to come by than they had anticipated. As
their prospects and funds diminished with each passing day, the relationship
between Baumgartner and Eddie soured. Despite their pact to stick together
through thick or thin, Baumgartner unexpectedly changed his mind, announc-
ing that he would return to Maryland with Shorb. Eddie, feeling double-
crossed by his friend and chagrinned by the strained relationship with his
father, was too embarrassed to go back home, just then at least. Faced with
being alone and destitute, a despondent Eddie sought out an army recruiting
office, which happened to be the cavalry rendezvous in Cincinnati. He was
soon a regular soldier clad in army blue.
For a time, Eddie performed the normal duties of a soldier in the ranks,
but his superiors took note that he obviously possessed more formal education
than an average private, many of whom were illiterate. Company command-
ers, always mindful of men who could perform the myriad clerical duties nec-
essary to maintain accountability for men, horses, equipment, and supplies,
detailed him for various periods throughout his enlistment as either company
or adjutant’s clerk. For a time, he held the rank of company quartermaster
sergeant. Those roles, although demanding in their own right, allowed him to
remain in garrison much of the time, rather than participating in patrols and
escorts with the rest of his company. His assignment of such roles was fortu-
itous for history because it placed Matthews in a situation in which he had the
time and means to write home with some regularity.
The Matthews letters comprise an unparalleled firsthand narrative of one
regular soldier’s service during the Indian campaigns in the West. Personal
accounts of army life in any form left by soldiers of that period are

6 William N. Baumgartner was the twenty-one-year-old son of Westminster attorney John J.

Baumgartner. William later became a dentist and took up practice in his hometown (1850 U.S.
Federal Census, last modified 2009, Ancestry.com; 1880 U.S. Federal Census, Ancestry.com). Eddie’s
other companion was probably Joshua Shorb, age eighteen, whose father was an architect and builder
in Westminster and a partner in the furniture-manufacturing firm of Shorb, Leister, and Shaeffer
(1870 U.S. Federal Census, last modified 2009, Ancestry.com). See also business advertisements in the
1869 issues of the Democratic Advocate.
 xvi introduction
comparatively rare for several reasons. Chief among those, as has been dis-
cussed, was the small size of the army at that time. The Union Army of the
Civil War, by contrast, averaged approximately a million men, most of them
volunteers, over a four-year period. For most of those men, the war was the
highlight of their lives, a factor that resulted in thousands of diaries, letters,
and published reminiscences. By contrast, nearly half of the men who joined
the army in the postwar era hailed from foreign countries, and many of them
had little or no command of the English language. Those who did, even
native-born Americans, were often from the lowest rungs of society, where
they had not been afforded an education. With few exceptions, those who
bothered to leave any sort of record kept only simple field diaries, blandly
recording the day-by-day marches of troops on campaign with little useful
detail or perspective.
In this respect, Eddie Matthews was exceptional. His was not a later remi-
niscence clouded by time and dimming memory. Eddie’s letters record a vivid
chronicle of daily life in the frontier regulars as he was experiencing it. Included
are operational details of his company, candid observations of people and
places, intimate views of frontier society, and personal opinions that probably
would have been forgotten or moderated had he recorded his experiences later
in life. Subtler are his valuable references to the state of transportation and
communication in the Southwest during the early 1870s. The keen-eyed reader
will note, for example, how he marks the progress of the Kansas Pacific and
the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroads into the territories of Colorado
and New Mexico, thus heralding the doom of major wagon roads like the
Santa Fe Trail. Matthews probably did not realize until later years that he was
not only a witness to the nation’s rapid westward expansion, but was himself a
tiny cog in the machinery that made it possible.
His letters, never intended to be read by anyone outside his immediate fam-
ily, reflect a rather cocky, vain young man out on his own for the first time.
Suffering pangs of guilt for the problems he had caused at home, he went out of
his way to impress his parents with a newfound sense of maturity and a desire to
improve himself. His cheeky sense of humor is evident throughout, though at
times he could turn sarcastic, particularly when family members failed to write
him as frequently as he expected. Today’s reader may fault Matthews for his rac-
ist and sexist views. While his prejudices may violate today’s sensibilities, we
must consider his opinions within the context of societal norms of the mid-
nineteenth century. That Eddie openly expressed these unvarnished biases to his
family adds significantly to the historical value of the letters.
 introduction xvii

I am deeply indebted to John Koster, a former New Jersey newspaper

reporter, for initially bringing the Matthews letters to public attention. During
a serendipitous encounter with Ora Bublitz, Eddie Matthews’s granddaughter,
Mr. Koster was shown a three-foot-high stack of manuscript letters dating to
the late nineteenth century and bearing addresses from various military posts
in the American Southwest. Recognizing their importance as a chronicle of
one soldier’s experience on the Western Frontier, Koster selected a journal
Matthews kept during a six-week period in the field and published it as an
article in American Heritage (1980). Although Koster intended to publish the
full collection in cooperation with Mrs. Bublitz, the project never came to
fruition. However, Bublitz, a stenographer by profession, did prepare a type-
script of the letters and each party retained copies. One of those eventually
found its way to the archives at Fort Union National Monument.
Regrettably, the original letters disappeared after Ora Bublitz’s passing
and could not be located for this project. I was unable to determine through
contacts with other surviving descendants whether they had simply been lost,
or had been destroyed. Thanks to John Koster, however, the typescript sur-
vived to enable all of Eddie Matthews’s letters to finally be shared with the
historical community and the public at large.
It is appropriate at this juncture to offer some explanation about the meth-
odology used in editing the letters for this book. As the editor, I have consid-
ered it important to preserve as fully as possible Matthews’s writing style to
convey to the reader a sense of his personality, attitudes, and views of events as
he witnessed them. His salutation invariably read, “To the Loved Ones at
Home,” and he usually closed with, “With much love and kisses to you all,” or
something similar. I have deleted those redundant elements in the interest of
maintaining a narrative flow. Matthews’s address and date headings, now uni-
formly formatted, have been retained to aid the reader in tracking the chronol-
ogy of events and his whereabouts at any given time.
Matthews’s original spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and usage have
been preserved throughout, except in those instances where clarity would be
enhanced by providing the corrected word in brackets. One of his writing
habits involved the frequent omission of the word I at the beginning of sen-
tences. Accordingly, [I] in brackets has been added where necessary for read-
ability. Throughout his letters, Matthews substituted the letter e for the letter
y in adverbs such as possibly and comfortably, and thus they appear as possible
and comfortable, respectively. He also frequently used y in place of i, as, for
example, in satisfyed. Not surprisingly for someone who found himself in a
 xviii introduction
foreign environment, he often used phonetic spellings of place names, particu-
larly those of Spanish origin.
In those instances in which it appears that the original typist has erred in
deciphering Matthews’s handwriting, or has not correctly interpreted a particu-
lar word (for instance, army slang, proper names, and military terms), I have
either corrected the word or inserted [illegible] when it could not be deciphered.
Words were sometimes missing from the original typescript. We have no way to
know whether the omissions were on the part of Matthews or Mrs. Bublitz. I
have either entered [missing], or, in those instances when the missing word could
be conjectured, it has been added in brackets with a question mark. Matthews
had a habit of underlining some words for emphasis and those have been retained.
He frequently omitted periods, and never used question marks. He also had a
habit of running his sentences together, which at times resulted in long, ram-
bling paragraphs. In those instances, I have made sentence breaks at appropriate
locations to improve readability without altering the text’s meaning. Punctuation
has been added or modified only where necessary for clarity, and paragraph
breaks have been made as necessary to improve cohesiveness.
As might be expected of letters written to home folks, Eddie often digresses
into family chitchat and commentary relative to acquaintances and events in
Westminster. Most of those passages have been deleted so as not to distract
from the central narrative, except where they related in some way to his army
life. With few exceptions, no attempt has been made to identify the friends he
mentions in his hometown, though where possible the correct spellings of most
proper names have been verified.
Finally, I have added commentary in italics to introduce the chapters and
to provide some historical context for Eddie’s activities and those of the Eighth
Cavalry. In one instance, it was necessary to bridge a thirteen-month gap in
the original correspondence. Military personnel have been identified wherever
possible, and biographical sketches have been provided in footnotes. However,
I was unable to accomplish this in a few instances in which information con-
cerning individuals, usually enlisted men, could not be found in available
sources. I was placed at a disadvantage because the muster rolls for the Eighth
Cavalry, which would have provided those names, are no longer available for
public use at the National Archives, and microform copies have not been
produced.
Now we join Eddie Matthews as he embarks on a five-year adventure that
will take him across the continent to California, to the wilds of Arizona and
New Mexico, to Colorado, and back again.
 chapter One
✯
“Away from Home and Friends”
september – december 1869

T hinking he might be able to endure the army for three years, which would
be enough time for his domestic troubles to subside, Eddie Matthews introduced
himself to the recruiting officer, Captain James S. Tomkins. Eddie’s spirits plum-
meted, however, when he learned that Congress had recently increased the term of
enlistment to five years, an eternity to a nineteen-year-old.1
The option of joining the army now seemed less appealing, and, having arriv­
­ed at the office too late in the day to undergo a physical examination, Matthews
told Captain Tomkins that he would reconsider and return with his decision the
next day, after seeing his companions off at the train station. Uncertain just what
to do after that, Eddie procrastinated for most of another week, hoping some other
alternative might present itself. At length, literally down to his last penny, and
having no other prospect for supporting himself, he enlisted in the U.S. Cavalry

1 He could not have known that the Army Reorganization Act of March 3, 1869, had just changed
the term of enlistment for all branches of the army from three to five years. See Ganoe, History of
the Army, 324.

1
Another Random Scribd Document
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the retina of each eye, and draw the two pictures of any object seen
by our eyes, those pictures put into the stereoscope,
 OPTICS AND OPTICAL AMUSEMENTS. 175 would reproduce
the solidity from which they were drawn. Two instruments are sold,
and may be obtained with the photographic pictures, almost at any
optician's, viz. : the reflecting and the refracting stereoscope, of
which we give drawings. Tiyn THE REFLECTING STEREOSCOPE,
REFRACTING STERESCOPE. a a, the two pictures, b b, the two
mirrors, so adjusted that their backs form an angle of ninety degrees
with each other, i. e., the quarter of a circle. OCULAR SPECTRA. One
of the most curious affections of the eye is that in virtue of which it
sees what are called ocular spectra, or accidental colors. If we place
a red wafer on a sheet of white paper, and, closing one eye, koep
the other directed for some time to the center of the wafer, then, if
we turn the same eye to another part of the paper, we shall see a
green wafer, the color of which will continue to grow fainter and
fainter, as we continue to look at it. By using differently-colored
wafers, we obtain the folio wirg results : WAFER. SPECIMEN. Black,
White. White, Black. Red, Bluish Green. Orange, Blue. Yellow,
Indigo. Green, Violet, with a little Red. Blue, ... . . Orange Red.
Indigo, Orange Yellow. Violet, Bluish Green. BRILLIANT WATER
ICOIROR. Nf^arly fill a glass tumbler with water, and hold it, witk
 176 THE magician's OWN BOOR. your back to the window,
above the level t>f the eye, as in the engraving. Then look obliquely,
as in the direction E, a, c, and you will see the whole surface shining
like burnished silver, with a strong metallic reflection ; and any
object, as a spoon, A, C, B, immersed in the water, will have its
immersed part, C B, reflected on the surface, as in a mirror, but with
a brilliancy far surpassing that which can be obtained from
quicksilver, or from the most highly-polished metals, by any means
whatever. OPTICS OF A SOAP BUBBLE. If a soap-bubble be blown
up, and set under a glass, so that the motion of air may not affect it,
as the water glides down the sides and the top grows thinner,
several colors will successively appear at the top, and spread
themselves from thence down the sides of the bubble, till they
vanish in the same order in which they appear. At length, a black
spot appears at the top, and spreads till the bubble bursts.* THE
KALEIIX)SCOPE. If any object be placed between two plane mirrors,
inclined towards each other at an angle of thirty degrees, three
several images will be perceived in the circumference of a circle. On
this principle is formed the kaleidoscope, invented by Sir David
Brewster, and bj' means of which the reflected images viewed from a
particular point exhibit symmetrical figures, under an infinite
arrangement of beautiful forms and colors. The kaleidoscope may be
bought at any toy-shop, but it is requisite that every ^''oung person
should be able to construct one for himself. He must, therefore,
procure a tube of tin or paper, of about ten * The thinnest
8ubstance ever observed is the aqueous film of the soapbubble
previous to bursting ; yet it is capable of reflecting the faint image of
a candle, or the sun. Hence its thickness must correspond with what
Sir Isaac Newton calls the beginning of black, which appears in
water ut the thickness of the seven hundred and fifty thousandth
part of an inch
 OPTICS Ai\n OPTICAL AMUSEMENTS. 17"? inches in tength,
and two and a half or three inches in diameter. One end of this
should be stopped up with tin or papei; securely fastened, in which
is to be made a hole, about the size of a small pea, for the eye to
look through. Two pieces of well-silvered looking-glass, b b, are now
to be prDcured ; they must be not quite so long as the tube, and
they should be placed in the tube lengthwise, at an angle of 60
degrees, meeting together in a point at a, and separating to the
points c c, the polished surfaces looking inwards. A circular piece of
glass is now to be laid on the top of the edges of the a reflectors, b
b ; which, by their not being quite so long as the tube, will allow
room for its falling in, and it will be supported by the edges of the
tube, which may be slightly bent over, to prevent the glass from
falling out. This having been done, now proceed to make the "cap
"of the instrument. A rim of tin or pasteboard must be cut, so as to
fit over the glass end of the tube ; and in this, on the outer side, a
piece of ground glass must be fastened, so that the whole may fit on
the tube like the lid of a pill-box. Then, before putting it on, obtain
some small pieces of broken glass of various colors, beads, little
strips of wire, or any other object, and place them in the cap ; and
by passing it over the end, so that the broken glass, &c. has free
motion, the instrument is complete. To use it, apply the eye to the
small hole, and, on turning it, the most beautiful forms will appear,
in the most wonderful combinations. The following curious
calculation has been made of the number of changes this instrument
will admit of. Supposing it to contain 20 small pieces of glass, and
that you make 10 changes in a minute, it will take an inconceivable
space of time, i. e. 462,880,899,516 years, and 360 days, to go
through the immense number of changes of which it is capable.
SIMPLE SOLAR MICROSCOPE. Having made a circular hole in a
window-shutter, about three inches in diameter, place in it a glass
lens of about twelve inches focal distance. To the inside of the hole
adapt a tube, having at a small distance from the lens a slit, capable
of receiving one or two very thin plates of glass, to which the object
to be viewed must be affixed by 12
 178 THE magician's own book. means of a little gum water
exceedingly transparent. Into this tube fit another, furnished at its
extremity with a lens of half an inch focal distance. Place a mirror
before the hole of the window-shutter on the outside, in such a
manner as to throw the light of the sun into the tube, and you will
have a solar magic lantern. The method of employing this
arrangement of lenses for microscopic purposes is as follows :
Having darkened the room, and by means of the mirror reflected the
sun's rays on the glasses in a direction parallel to the axis, place
some small object between the two moveable plates of glass, or
affix it to one of them with very transparent gum water, and bring it
exactly into the axis of the tube ; if the moveable tube be then
pushed out or drawn in, till the object be a little beyond the focus, it
will be seen painted very distinctly on a card, or piece of white
paper, held at a proper distance, and will appear to be greatly
magnified. A small insect will appear as a large animal, a hair as big
as a walkingstick, and the almost invisible eels in paste or vinegar as
large as common eels. ANAMORPHOSES. This is a very curious
optical effect, producing a distorted and grotesque figure from a
regular one. The term is derived from two Greek words, signifying a
distortion of figure, and by its means many optical puzzles may be
produced geometrically. Take any subject, such as the portrait of a
head ; divide it vertically and horizontally with parallel lines, of which
the outer sides shall form the boundary, a, b, c, d, and the whole
shall be equi-distant. Then, on a separate piece of paper, or
cardboard, prepare a drawing similar to Fig. 2 hy the following
means : 1. Draw a horizontal line, a h, equal to a b, and divide it
into as many equal parts as the latter is divided. 2. Let fall a
perpendicular line, ev, from the middle of a h, and then draw * v
parallel to a b. 3. Both e V and s v may be any length at pleasure,
but the longer the first is, and the shorter the other, so will the
anamorphoses be more and more deformed. The proportions in our
figures are sufficiently difierent. 4 After having drawn from the point
v right lines, v 1, V 2, u 3, r 4, to the di visions of a h, draw the line
* h, and
 OPTICS AND OPTICAL AMUSEMENTS. 179 through each
point where s b intersects the divergent lines, draw other horizontal
lines parallel to a b. We now have a trapezium, abed, divided into as
many cells as the square in Fig. 1. 1 2 e 3 4:^ The next step is to fill
up all the cells of Fig. 2 with por< tions of the device, proportionate
to their position in Fig. 1. For instance, in Fig. 1 the nose is in the
second vertical division from the left, and in the third and fourth
horizontal divisions from the top, and that portion of the face must
accordingly be placed in a corresponding part of Fig. 2. By these
means we procure the anamorphosis seen in Fig. 2, which, when
viewed from a particular position, will lose all its distortion, and
assume an appearance resembling that in Fig. 1. This position lies
immediately over the point v, and at a height above it equal to the
length of the line s v ; and the means of determining it are as follow
: Place the drawing horizontally before a window ; take a slip of
card, and rest its lower edge on the line s v, the card being
accurately vertical ; pierce a small hole in the card vertically over the
point v, and at a height from it equal to the length ui the line s v,
then, with the eye placed immediately behind the card, look through
the orifice at the anamorphosis, and it will be found that as soon as
the eye has become accustomed to the novelty of the experiment
the anamorphosis will lose its distortion, and appear almost exactly
like the symmetrical figure. It would be very difficult, and would
require geometrical reasoning of a lengthened kind, to show why
this particular form of construction should lead t© such results.
 180 THE magician's OWN BOOK. THE COSMORAMA. The
principle upon which the cosmorama is formed is so simple, that any
person may easily fit up one in a small summer house, &c. Nothing
more is necessary than to fix in a hole a double convex lens of about
three feet focus, a, and at rather less than this distance a picture, b,
is to be hung. To absorb all the rays of lip^ht bnt those necesfiary
for seeing the picture, a squared frame of wood blackened on the
inside is placed between the lens and the picture. The picture may
be hang in a large box having a light coming in upon it from above,
or in a small closet illuminated in the same manner. Should it be
wished to show the picture by candle-light, a lamp, c, may be placed
on the top of the wooden frame, and if the light of this be converged
by a lens to a moderate radius, it will be more effective. DISTORTED
LAOT)SCAPES. Landscapes or other matters may be drawn so as to
produce curious optical illusions by the following method. Take a
piece of smooth white pasteboard, and sketch the design upon it.
Prick the outlines in every part with a fine pin or needle, then place
the pricked drawing in a perpendicular position, and put a lighted
candle behind it. Place before it another piece of pasteboard, and
follow with a pencil the lines given by the light, and you have
produced a distorted landscape. Now take away the candle and the
pricked drawing, and place your eye where the light was, and the
drawing wUl assume the regular form. To get your eye in the pro
 OPTICS AND OPTICAL AMUSEMENTS. 181 per position, it
will be advisable to cut out a piece of card according to the
preceding- pattern, and raising it on its base, B, look through the
hole at a, when the object will appear in its proper proportions. THE
3IAG7f mS. Among the numerous experiments with wiiich science
astonishes and sometimes even strikes terror into the ignorant, there
is none more calculated to produce this effect than that of displaying
to the eye in absolute darkness the legend or inscription upon a
coin. To do this, take a silver coin (I have always used an old one),
and after polishing the surface as much as possible, make the parts
of it which are raised rough by the action of an acid, the parts not
raised, or those which are to be rendered darkest, retaining their
polish. If the coin thus prepared is placed upon a mass of red-hot
iron, and removed into a dark room, the inscription upon it will
become less luminous than the rest, so that it may be distinctly read
by the spectator. The masn of red-hot iron should be concealed from
the observer's eye, both for the purpose of rendering the eye fitter
for observing the effect, and of removing all doubt that the
inscription is really road in the dark, that is, without receiving any
light, direct or reflected, from any other body. If, in place of polishing
xiie depressed parts, and roughening its raised parts, we make the
raised parts polished, and roaghen the depressed parts, the
inscription will now be less luminoua than the depressed parts.
 TmCKS IN MECHANICS. "These are machinatione comical."
— Ford. There is no subject of such importance as Mechanics, as Its
principles are founded upon the properties of matter and the laws of
motion ; and in knowing something- of these, the tyro will lay the
foundation of all substantial knowledge. The properties of matter are
the following : Solidity (or Impenetrability), Divisibility, Mobility,
Elasticity, Brittleness, Malleability, Ductility, and Tenacity. The laws of
motion are as follow : 1. Every body continues in a state of rest or of
uniform rectilineal motion, unless affected by some extraneous force.
2. The change of motion is always proportionate to the impelling
force. 3. Action and reaction are always equal and contrary.
EXPERDIENT OF THE LAW OE MOTION. In shooting at " taw," if the
marble be struck " plump," as it is called, it moves forward exactly in
the same line of direction ; but if struck sidew^ays, it will move in
an oblique direction, and its course will be in a line situated between
C1821
 TRrrKS I\ MFCHANICS. 183 the direction of its former
motion and that of the force impressed. This is called the resolution
of forces. BALANCING The center of gravity in a body is that part
about which all the other parts equally balance each other. In
balancing a stick upon the finger, or upon the chin, it is necessary
only to keep the chin or finger exactly under the point which is
called the center of gravity. THE PRANCING HORSE. Cut out the
figure of a horse, and having fixed a curved iron wire to the under
part of its body, place a small ball of lead upon it. Place the hind legs
of the horse on the table, and it will rock to and fro. If the ball be
removed, the horse would immediately tumble, because
unsupported, the center of gravity being in the front of the prop ;
but upon the ball being replaced, the center of gravity immediately
changes its position, and is brought under the prop, and the horse is
again in equilibrio. TO CONSTRUCT A HGURE, WHICH, BEING
PLACED UPON A CURVED SURFACE, AND INCLINED Df ANY
POSITION, SHALL, WHEN LEFT TO ITSELF, RETURN TO ITS
FORMER POSITION. The feet of the figure rest on a curved pivot,
which IS sustained by two loaded balls below ; for the weight of
these balls being much greater than that of the figure, their effect is
to bring the center of gravity of the whole beneath the point on
which it rests ; consequently the equilibrium will resist any slight
force to disturb it. TO MAKE A CARRIAGE RUN LN AN INVERTED
POSITION WITHOUT FALLING. It is pretty well known to most boys,
that if a tumbler of water be placed within a broad wooden hoop,
the whole may be whirled round without falling, owing to the
centrifugal force. On the same principle, if a small carriage be placed
on an iron band or rail, it will ascend the curve, become inverted,
and descend again, without falling.
 184 THE magician's OWN BOOK. TO CAUSE A CYLINDER
TO ROLL BY ITS OWN WEIGHT UP HILL Procure a cofiee canister,
and loading it at f with a piece of lead, wliich may be fixed in with
solder, the position of the center of gravity is thus altered. If a
cylinder so constructed be placed on an inclined plane, and the
loaded part above, it will roll up hill without assistance. THE
BALANCED STICK. Procure a piece of wood, about nine incnes in
length and about half an inch in thickness, and thrust into its upper
end the blades of two penknives, on either side one. Place the other
end upon tho tip of the fore-finger, and it will keep its place without
falling. THE CHINESE MANDARIN. Construct out of the pith of elder
a little mandarin ; then provide a base for it to sit in, like a kettle-
drum. Into this put some heavy substance, such as half a leaden
bullet ; fasten the figure to this, and in whatever position it may be
placed, it will, when left to itself, immediately return to its upright
position. TO HAKE A QUARTER DOLLAR TURN ON ITS EDGE ON THE
POINT OP i NEEDLE. Take a bottle, with a cork in its neck, and in it,
in a per 
 TRICKS h\ MECHANICS. 185 pendicular position, a middle-
sized needle. Fix a quarter dollar into another cork, by cutting a nick
in it ; and stick into the same cork two small table-forks, opposite
each other, with the handles inclining downwards. If the rim of the
quarter dollar be now poised on the point of the needle, it may
easily be made to spin round without falling, as the center of gravity
is below the the center of suspension. THE SELP-BALAKCED PAtt.
You lay a stick across the table, letting one thiid of it project over the
edge ; and you undertake to hang a pail of water on it, without
either fastening the stick on tiie table, or letting the pail rest on any
support ; and this (eat the laws of gravitation will enable you literally
t
 ?S6 THE MAGICIAN'S OWN COOK. proaches nearer to that
which comes out of the bottle. It is necessary, in order to succeed in
this feat, to be particularly careful in choosing a stout straw, which is
neither broken nor bruised ; if it have been previously bent or
damaged, it is unfit for the purpose of performing this trick, as it will
be too weak in the part so l)ent, or damaged, to support the bottle.
THE DANCING PEA. If you stick through a pea, or small ball of pith,
two pins* at right angles, and defend the points with pieces of
sealing wax, it may be kept in equilibrio at a short distance from the
end of a straight tube by means of a current of breath from the
mouth, which imparts a rotary motion to the pea. THE TOPER'S
TRIPOD. Place three tobacco pipes in the position shown in the
engraving, the mouth of the bowls downwards, and the lower end of
the stems upon the stem just by the bowls. This tripod, if carefully
put together, will support considerably more than a pot of ale. " The
pins are only used to hold the pea steady before it is blown from the
pipe, as the pea alone will dance quite as well.
 TRICKS IN MECHANICS. OBLIQUITY OF MOHON. 187 Cut a
piece of pasteboard into the following Hhape, and describe on it a
spiral line ; cut this out with a penknife, and then suspend it on a
large skewer or pin, as seen in the engraving. If the whole be now
placed on a warm stove, or over the flame of a candle or lamp, it will
revolve with considerable velocity. The card, after being cut into the
spiral, may be made to represent a snake or dragon, and when in
motion will produce a very pleasing effect. THE BRIDGE OF KNIVES
Place three glasses, a a a, in the form of a triangle, and arrange
three knives upon them, as shown in the figure. the blade of No. 1
over that of No. 2, and that over No. 3, which rests on No. 1. The
bridge so made will be self-sup» ported
 188 THE magician's OWi\ BOOK. SAND IN THE HOtJR-
GLASS. It is a remarkable fact, that the flow of sand in the hourglass
is perfectly equable, whatever may be the quantity in the glass ; that
is, the sand runs no faster when the upper half of the glass is quite
full than when it is nearly empty. It would, however, be natural
enough to conclude that, when full of sand, it would be more swiftly
urged through the aperture, than when the glass was only a quarter
full, and near the close of the hour. The fact of the even flow of sand
may be proved by a very simple experiment. Provide some silver
sand, dry it over or before the fire, and pass it through a tolerably
fine sieve. Then take a tube, of any length or diameter, closed at one
end, in which make a small hole, say the eighth of an inch ; stop this
with a peg, and fill up the tube with the sifted sand. Hold the tube
steadily, or fix it to a wall, or frame, at any height from a table ;
remove the peg, and permit the sand to flow in any measure for any
given time, and note the quantity. Then, let the tube be emptied,
and only half or a quarter filled with the sand ; measure again, for a
like time, and the same quantity of sand will flow : even if you press
the sand in the tube with a ruler or stick, the flow of the sand
through the hole will not be increased. The above is explained by
the fact, that when the sand is poured into the tube, it fills it with a
succession of conical heaps, and that all the weight which the
bottom of the tube sustains is only that of the heap which first falls
upon it ; as the succeeding heaps do not press downwards, but OLly
against the sides or walls of the tube. RESISTANCE OF SAND. From
the above experiment it may be concluded, that it is extremely
difficult to thrust sand out of a tube by means of a fitting plug or
piston ; and this, upon trial, is found to be the case. Fit a piston to a
tube (exactly like a boy's pop-gun,) pour some sand in, and try with
the utmost strength of the arm to push out the sand. It will be found
impossible to do this : rather than the sand should be shot out. the
tube will burst at the sides.
 TRICKS m HYDRAULICS The science of Hydraulics
comprehends the laws which regulate non-elastic fluids in motion,
and especially water, &c. Water can only be set in motion by two
causes — the pressure of the atmosphere, or its own gravity. The
principal law concerning fluids is, that they always preserve their
own level. Hence water can be distributed over a town from any
reservoir that is higher than the houses to be supplied ; and the
same principle will enable us to form fountains in a garden, or other
place. Should any of our young friends wish to form a fountain, or
jet-d'-eau, they may, by bringing a pipe from t, a water-tank, which
should be at the upper part of the house, convey the water down to
the garden. Then by leading it through the earth, underneath the
path or grass plot, and turning it to a perpendicular position, the
water will spring out, and rise nearly as high as th*^ level of that in
the tank. The part of the pipe at b should have a turnkey, so that the
water may be let en or shut off at pleasure. THE PUMP. The action of
the common pump is as follows : When the handle a is raised, the
piston-rod b descends, and [189]
 190 THE MAGICIAX S OWN BOOK. brings the piston-valve,
called the sucker, or bucket, to another valve, c, which is fixed, and
opens inwards towards the piston. When the handle is drawn down,
the piston is raised, and, as it is air-tight, a vacuum is produced
between the two valves ; the air in the valve of the pump, betwixt
the lower valve and the water, then forces open the lower valve, and
rushes through to fill up this vacuum ; and the air in the pump being
less dense than the external atmosphere, the water is forced a short
way up the barrel. When the piston again descends to the lower
valve, the air between them is again forced out by forcing open the
upper valve ; and when the piston is raised, a vacuum is again
produced, and the air below the lower valve rushes up, and the
water in consequence is again raised a rittle further. This operation
continues until thr; water rises above the lower valve ; at every
stroke afterwards, the water passes through the valve oi the
descending piston, and is raisea by it, on its ascent, until it issues
out of the spout. THE niDRAUIIC DANCER. Make a little figure of
cork, in the stiftpe of a dancing mountebank, sailor, &c. In tintj
figure place a small hollow cone, made of thin leaf brass. When
 TRICKS IN HYDRAULICS. 191 this figure is placed upon any
jet-d'-eau, sucn as that of the fountain recommended to be
constructed, it will be suspended on the top of the water, and
perform a great variety of amusing motions. If a hollow ball of ver^-
thin copper, about an inch in diameter, be placed on a similar cone, it
will remain suspended, turning round and spreading the water all
about it. THE SYPHON. The syphon is a bent tube, having one leg
shorter than the other. It acts by the pressure of the atmosphere
being removed from the surface of a fluid, which makes it to rise
above its common level at b. In order to make a syphon act, it is
necessary first to fill both legs quite full of the fluid ; and then the
shorter leg must be placed in the vessel to be emptied. Immediately
upon withdrawing the finger from the longer leg, the liquor will flow.
Any young person may form a syphon by a small piece of leaden
pipe, bent into the form above. THE WATER SNAIL, OR
ARCHIMEDIAN SCREW may easily be constructed. Purchase a yard
of small leaden pipe, and twist it round a pole, as in the following
figure, A ; place a handle at its upper end, b, and let its lower end
rest in the water. Between the last turn of the pipe and the orifice
place a paddle-wheel, c. Now, should the water be that of a running
stream, the force of the stream will turn the pipe, and the water will
rise in it till it empties itself
 192 THE magician's own book. into the trough at d. Should
the water have no motion, the turning of the handle at b will elevate
the water from the lower to the higher level. THE BOTTLE
EJECTMENT. Fill a small white glass bottle, with a very narrow neck,
full of wine; place it in a glass vase, which must previously have
suflScient water in it to rise above the mouth of the bottle.
Immediately you will perceive the wine rise, in the form of a little
column, toward the surface of the water, and the water will, in the
mean time, begin to take the place of the wine at the bottom of the
bottle. The cause of this is, that the water is heavier than the wine,
which it displaces, and foi'ces it to rise toward the surface. THE
MAGIC OF HYDROSTATICS WITH THE ANCIENTS. The principles of
Hydrostatics were available in the work of magical deception. The
marvelous fountain which Pliny describes in the island of Andros as
discharging wine for seven days, and water during the rest of the
year, — the spring of oil which broke out in Rome to welcome the
return of Augustus from the Sicilian war, — the three empty urns
which filled themselves with wine at the annual feast of Bacchus in
the city of Elis, — the glass tomb of Belus, which was full of oil, and
which, when once emptied by Xerxes, could not again be filled, —
the weeping statues, and the perpetual lamps of the ancients, —
were all the obvious effect of the equilibrium and pressure of fluids.
TO EilPTY A GLASS UNDER WATER. Fill a wine-glass with water,
place over its mouth a card, so as to prevent the water from
escaping, and put the glass, mouth downwards, into a basin of
water. Next, remove the card, and raise the glass partly above the
surface, but keep its mouth below the surface, so that the glass still
remains completely filled with water. Then insert one end of a quill
or reed in the water below the mouth of the glass, and blow gently
at the other end, when air will ascend in bubbles to the highest part
of the glass, and expel the water from it ; and, if you continue to
blow throw the quill, all the water will be emptied from the glass,
which will be filled with air.
 TRICKS IN ACOUSTICS. Acoustics is the science relating to
sound and hearing. Sound is heard when any shock or impulse is
given to the air, or to any other body which is in contact directly or
indirectly with the ear. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOITND AND NOISE.
Noises are made by the cracks of whips, the beating of nammers,
the creak of a file or saw, or the hubbub of a multitude. But when a
bell is struck, the bow of a violia drawn across the strings, or the
wetted finger turned round a musical glass, we have what are
properly called sounds. SOUNDS, HOW PROPAGATED. Sounds are
propagated on all bodies much after the manner that waves are in
water, with a velocity of 1,142 feet in a second. Sounds in liquids
and in solids are more rapid than in air. Two stones rubbed together
may be heard in water at half a mile ; solid bodies convey sounds to
great distances, and pipes may be made to convey the voice over
every part of the house. VISIBLE VIBRATION. Provide a glass goblet
about two thirds filled with colored water, draw a fiddle bow against
its edge, and the surface of the water will exhibit a pleasing figure,
composed of fans, four, six, or eight in number, dependent on the
dimensions of the vessel, but chiefly on the pitch of the note
produced. Or, nearly fill a glass with water, draw the bow strongly
against its edge, the water will be elevated and depressed; and
when the vibration has ceased, and the surface of the water has
become tranquil, these elevations will be exhibited in the form of a
curved line, passing round the interior surface of the glass, and
above the surface of the water. If the action of the bow be strong,
the water will be sprinkled on the inside of the glass, above the
liquid surface, and this sprinkling will show the curved line 13 [1^3]
 194 THE magician's OWN BOOK. very perfectly, as in the
engraviDg. The water should be carefully poured, so that the glass
above the liquid be preserved dry; the portion of the glass between
the edge and curved line will then be seen partially sprinkled; but,
between the level of the water and the curved line, it will have
become wholly wetted, thereby indicating the height to which the
fluid has been thrown. TRANgMITTED VIBRATION. Provide a long,
flat glass ruler or rod, as in the engraving, and cement it with mastic
to the edge of a drinking glass, fixed into a wooden stand; support
the other end of the rod very lightly on a piece of cork, and strew its
upper surface witii sand; set the liP liiiilllllillliiiilili^ &^ass in vibration
by a bow, at a point opposite where the rod meets it, and the
motions will be communicated to the rod without any change in their
direction. If the apparatus be inverted, and sand be strewed on the
under side of the rod, the figures will be seen to correspond with
those produced on the upper surface, DOUBLE YIBRATION'. Provide
two disks of metal or glass, precisely of the same dimensions, and a
glass or metal rod; cement the two disks at their centers to the ends
of the rod, as in the engraving, and strew their upper surfaces with
sand. Cause one of the disks, viz., the upper one, to vibrate by a
bow, and its vibration will be exactly imitated by the lower disk, and
the sand strewed over both will arrange itself in precisely the same
forms on both disks. CHAMPAGNE AND SOUND. Pour sparkling
champagne into a glass, until it is half full, when the glass will lose
its power of ringing by a stroke upon its edge, and will emit only a
disagreeable and pufiy sound. Nor will a glass ring while the wine is
brisk, and filled with air-bubbles; but as the effervescence subsides,
the sound will become clearer and clearer, and when the air-bubbles
have entirely disappeared, the glass wiU
 TRICKS IN ACOUSTIC!?. 195 ring- as usual. If a crumb of
bread be thrown into the champagne, and effervescence be
reproduced, the glass will again cease to ring. The same experiment
will also succeed with soda water, ginger wine, or any other
effervescing liquid. MUSIC OF THE SNAIL. Place a garden snail upon
a pane of glass, and in drawing itself along, it will frequently produce
sounds similar to those of musical glasses. THE TUmNG-FORK A
FLUTE PLAYER. Take a common tuning-fork, and on one of its
branches fasten with sealing-wax a circular piece of card, of the size
of a small wafer, or sufficient nearly to cover the aperture of a pipe,
as the sliding of the upper end of a flute with the mouth stopped: it
may be tuned in unison with the loaded tuning-fork f;. ^ (a C fork),
by means of the g: 1 moveable stopper or card, '-^—-^ or the fork
may be loaded till the unison is perfect. Then set the fork in
vibration by a blow on the unloaded branch, and hold the card
closely over the mouth of the pipe, as in the engraving, when a note
of surprising clearness and strength will be heard. Indeed, a flute
may be made to "speak" perfectly w^ell, by holding close to the
opening a vibrating tuning-fork, while the fingering proper to the
note of the fork is at the same time performed. MUSICAL BOTTLES.
Provide two glass bottles, and tune them by pouring water into
them, so that each corresponds to the sound of a different taning-
fork. Then apply both tuning-forks to the mouth of each bottle
alternately, when that sound only will be heard, in each case, which
is reciprocated by the unisonant bottle ; or, in other words, by that
bottle which contains a column of air, susceptible of vibrating in
unison ^ith the fork. THEORY OF WHI3PERI}fG. Apartments of a
circular or elliptical form are best calcuated for the exhibition of this
phenomenon. If a person stand near the wall, with his face turned to
it, and whispej
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