Oconto, Mich.
What literary characters has our country produced during this past century?
Carrie Stroud.
Answer.—There is space here to mention only a few of the most prominent American writers of this century. First in poetry stand Bryant, Prentice, Sigourney, Willis, Holmes, Longfellow, Whittier, Morris, and Miller. Among the most conspicuous historians are Irving, Sparks, Lossing, Bancroft, Cooper, Motley, Prescott, Parkman, Parton, Ramsay, and Greeley. Among novelists, Cooper, Irving, Hawthorne, Holland, and Mrs. Stowe hold the front rank, although there is a legion just behind them, some of whom press close upon them. In the field of essayists, literary, political, theological, and metaphysical, the catalogue of noted names is too long to admit of personal designation.
THE ASHTABULA HORROR.
Cottage, Iowa.
Was there anything in the death of Mr. P. P. Bliss in voluntarily remaining with his wife at the time of the railway accident at Ashtabula that justifies the charge that he committed suicide? Give particulars.
M. L. Percival.
Answer.—Mr. P. P. Bliss, the popular composer of sacred lyrics, and evangelistic vocalist, perished at Ashtabula, Ohio, in the terrible railroad disaster consequent on the fall of the Ashtabula bridge on the night of Dec. 29, 1876. Two engines and eleven cars, with about 160 passengers, were precipitated into the creek, seventy feet below. The wreck immediately took fire, and before help could reach the scene more than a hundred persons had perished through the fall or the flames, or were so badly injured that they afterward died. A terrible snowstorm and intense cold added to the sufferings of the survivors. In the midst of this scene of horror and distraction Mr. Bliss and his wife both lost their lives. It is by no means certain that Mr. Bliss could have escaped if he had abandoned his wife. If he could have done so, but perished in the effort to rescue her, such an act was heroic, and none but an idiot would class him with suicides.