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SUNDAY
AUGUST 11, 1861
THE DAILY TRUE DELTA |
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AN ENGLISH FLEET TO ENTER CHARLESTON
IN SPITE OF LINCOLN'S BLOCKADE
Richmond, Aug. 9--The papers of this
morning semi-officially announce that Admiral Dundas intends to take his
fleet into Charleston, regardless of Lincoln's pretended blockade.
The British consul here states that he ahs
no official authority for such a statement.
-----
Spirit of the Virginia Girls--The
Winchester Virginian publishes the following letter from a young lady of
Shepherdstown, dated July 25th. It is a good illustration of the spirit
of the southern girls:
A regiment of cut-throats, from
Patterson's division at Harper's Ferry, came through here
(Shepherdstown) on Monday. It was the Seventh Pennsylvania regiment,
commanded by Col. Erwin. Their time was out, and they were on their way
home. Some of them declared that they would never come here again--and
one of the officers told our citizens that he would not return; he had
business at home and he intended to stay there and attend to it. Some of
them declared that nothing could induce them to come again to the south.
A number of the ladies of the town, having no fears of a chicken-hearted
Yankee, and prompted by curiosity, (strange, is it not, that our sex
should have any curiosity?) went out to see and her what we could as
they entered the town. I was of the number. We pursued them until the
last Yankee devil had disappeared over the hill on their way to the ford
across the Potomac below town, near the mill. We perseveringly
questioned them, and talked them clear out of town. One soldier
told me that he would come here no more; he had seen enough of Virginia.
Two more regiments, he said, would leave Patterson one day this week,
and they, too, would go home never to return. After they left town, we
(the girls) went in a body to the river heights. There we remained,
musing ourselves at their efforts to get their wagons and their dirty
selves over the river. The girls would occasionally give them taunted
cheers, and cry out: "Hurry on, my braves! for old Johnston is just
behind you!" "Don't stop, Yankees, for Stewart's cavalry are coming down
[the] street!" Sometimes they would attempt to frighten us by pointing
their guns at us--and that would bring a shout from us. "Hurrah for
Jeff. Davis and the Southern Confederacy!" we shouted. One fellow, when
he got opposite the breastworks on the river cliffs, screamed out: "Is
that your battery?" and then he gave a loud laugh. I couldn't stand
that--so I told him, "No,! That was not a battery--but if he would go to
Manassas Junction he would find one in the form of a crescent, and Gen.
Beauregard would take pleasure in showing it to him--and its contents
were intended expressly for gentlemen like himself." The fellow turned
and marched on without making any rely. They don't like to hear of
batteries and Stewart's cavalry. Some of these miserable fellows had no
shirts--only jackets with a border. A more ignorant, ugly and filthy set
of men I have never seen. We told them Virginians were noted for their
hospitality--but of course they did not expecting to receive any of
it--they came in search of Gen. Johnston--and it was a pity they were
disappointed in not finding him, and in receiving the warm reception he
was prepared to give them. I heard that they told some persons after
getting across the river that they believed the southern men would
fight; but as for the Virginia girls, they were perfect devils, and
would fight harder than the men if they had a chance. |
More Prophecies Fulfilled--A squad
of captured New York Zouaves, on reaching Richmond the other day, were
heard to declare that of all the hopes, praises, and prophecies held up
to them by their leaders, they cry that they should be "in Richmond in
July" was the only one fulfilled. They also freely add, that if they had
read the prophecy right, they would not have made the trip--it was "a
hard road to travel" in July.
-----
The Leather Trade--A
correspondent of the Charleston Mercury, in a letter dated Chattanooga,
13th ult., says:
Your readers will be gratified, doubtless,
to learn that there is in the vicinity of this town, one of the largest
tanneries in the south. It is now in active operation, and turning out
from eight to ten thousand sides of well-tanned leather every month,
giving an aggregate of eighty thousand sides of leather per annum. A New
Orleans firm purchased here, a few days since, twenty thousand dollars
worth of leather for their shoemaking establishment, and we are informed
that more than $30,000 of stock was then in the yard, ready for market.
The tannery is now owned by Col. G. C. Torbitt, of Nashville, and Sam.
Tate, president of the M. & O. railroad. It is the design of the new
firm to go largely into the manufacture of shoes, at this point, at an
early period.
A Yankee Exterminator--Mr. T. P.
Christman, of Wilson, showed us, on Thursday morning, the mode of a
compound revolver, his own invention, which to us seems to be the
deadliest arm yet discovered in this or any other country. We have given
to it the name of the Yankee Exterminator.
It consists of twelve rows of guns, twelve
in each, to each of which a revolver containing seven balls is is
attached, and revolving on an axle in one minute. At each revolution 144
balls are fired, and in seven revolutions, occupying teh space of one
minute, 1008 bullets are fired; all of which can be performed by a
sensible lad of 10 or 12 years, and one intelligent man to point the
guns, which he is enabled to do with unerring certainty by means of a
contrivance which need not here be explained.
Mr. Christman brought his invention to
Raleigh, to submit it to the governor for examination, and to make a
present of it to his native state, provided its utility be established
by competent judges. It is a death-dealing invention, and does infinite
honor to the genius and patriotism of Mr. Christman, who is a native of
Salem, N. C. --Raleigh State Journal
-----
The New York papers still chafe under the
defeat of the 21st. The Herald of the 3d says:
Under McClelland's conduct of the army the
nation expects much, and it will not, we think, be disappointed. In his
hands, by next October, will be a disciplined force which, hurled
against rebellion, will shatter it in pieces, like a potter's vessel,
and by the first of May the Union will be restored in all its integrity,
peace and prosperity will prevail over the thirty-four states, and the
republic will become grater, more stable and more powerful than it ever
was before.
|
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MONDAY
AUGUST 12, 1861
THE BOSTON DAILY ADVERTISER |
|
SPIES AT WASHINGTON
Colonel Forney writes from Washington to
the Philadelphia Press--
"I have repeatedly spoken in this
correspondence of the number of spies that infest this city in the
interest of the Southern traitors. Their name is legion. Artful, secret
and active, they deceive our best friends by pretending to favor the
Union, and support our worst enemies by seizing upon every opportunity
to wound it. Ready to take any favorable patronage that may be
offered to them by the administration, they do not hesitate to employ
the very influence they acquired to break that administration down. The
most malignant and mischievous of these spies are females. Some of
them are ladies of high position, too, who, shielding themselves behind
the so-called weakness of their sex, reject the disguise assumed by
their husbands, fathers and brothers, and proclaim their sympathy with
treason and their earnest hope that the cause of our country may be
defeated. In the magnificent saloons and around luxurious tables of
these people, sentiments are uttered and plans perfected of the the most
atrocious character. Midnight meetings after the fashion of of the
celebrated Know Nothing lodges, are regularly held. What is most
disgusting in this whole affair is the fact that nearly all those
engaged in this conspiracy are people who have prospered upon the money
they have coined from the jobs they have received from the federal
government. There has been too much leniency for this scandalous,
flagrant and notorious ingratitude, and a growing feeling will
demand the punishment of all the men engaged in this bad business, or
else their prompt expulsion, with their families, from this community."
PAID WRITERS FOR THE REBELLION
Rev. Dr. McClintock writes from Paris to
the New York Methodist:
"A good deal has been done, no doubt, both
in France and England, by paid writers, in the interest of the southern
rebellion. I happen to know of one case which may, I presume, be taken
as a type of many. A writer on the staff of an important London journal
went to a member of Parliament, who is closely connected with American
by family ties, a few weeks ago, and asked him for some
information as to certain American facts. 'What is your purpose?' asked
the M.P. 'I am employed by the Southern Commissioners to
write up their side of the question in the -----; and I understand that
you can give me more information than any one else.' The member
dismissed him with a rebuke for hiring himself to such matters.
"Yet one thing is certain. The long delay
of the government in taking active measures in Virginia cannot be
understood here. In vain we say that our troops are undisciplined, that
the distances are vast, and the difficulties enormous. The answer is,
that the rebel troops are still more undisciplined, that their distances
are still greater and their means of transport less adequate--in a word,
that their difficulties must be vastly greater than ours in every
respect. Every steamer reports that a forward movement is 'imminent,'
but imminent it always remains. I can, or at least think I can,
understand all this; but it is hard to make Frenchmen understand it. The
English can comprehend it better. Their own experience in the Crimea
gave them a lesson as to the difference between a commercial people,
like the English or Americans, and a warlike nation like the French."
|
THE INCOME TAX
SHARE OF THE PRESIDENT AND CABINET
The National Intelligencer--The tax
payers naturally begin to inquire what proportion each one is to bear of
the twenty millions direct tax about to be imposed under the recent act
of Congress. Taking it for granted that but little if any of it will be
gathered from the disloyal States, we may simplify the matter by
supposing that it will operate upon only twenty millions of people. The
result, therefore, will be one dollar for each man, woman and child in
the States which stand by the Union. This is a mere trifle when compared
with the ends to be attained by the burden. It will fall principally
upon those best able to bear it, and upon articles of luxury. It is true
that the indirect tax upon tea, sugar and coffee, touches the humble as
well as the wealthy, but the effect will be to induce a curtailment of
other expenses in matters not essential to either health or comfort. The
President of the United States will pay seven hundred and twenty six
dollars, and each member of the Cabinet two hundred and sixteen dollars.
Clerks of the first-class ($1200) will pay twelve dollars per annum, and
the $2200 clerks forty-two dollars.
GUN SHOT WOUNDS
Simple gun shot wounds require nothing
more, for the first two or three days, than the application of a piece
of wet or oiled linen, fastened on with a strip of sticking-plaster, or
if possible kept constantly wet and cold with water. When cold water
disagrees, warm water should be substituted.
Bleeding, to the loss of life, is not a
common occurrence in gun-shot wounds, the novels to the contrary
notwithstanding. The most frequent exception is in a wound to the great
artery of the thigh.
Poultices have often been applied in gun
shot wounds from laziness or to cover neglect, and should be used as
seldom as possible.
We take these statements from Mr. Surgeon
General Guthrie.
HOW THE PETREL RAN THE BLOCKADE
The story of the escape of the Petrel
from Charleston, when she went out lately to catch her Tartar,1
is an instructive one. She was a small vessel of only eighty tons or so,
and crept out of the harbor by moonlight, running along close to the
north shore and going out by Rattlesnake Inlet. The shore is densely
wooded, and thus the vessel was not distinguishable where the Wabash
lay, six miles off--which was as near as the great steam frigate could
run in with safety. A few fast vessels of light draft, with a few heavy
rifled guns, if on the station six weeks ago, could have kept the
privateers in check for the war. As it is, we fear that the number now
on the water and calling for fats cruisers is scarcely realized by any
one.
HAVE THEY POWDER ENOUGH?
We continue to hear accounts now and then
of preparations made by the rebels for mining rods and batteries, so as
to blow up our army by regiments, in case they are forced to retreat.
Nothing is better established than that
the rebel army is poorly supplied with gunpowder. Little is made at the
South, and the supply of materials for the manufacture is trifling and
cannot be increased, owing to the blockade. We do no believe that
when they are forced to economize even in the trifle of firing salutes,
there can be much danger of their making any such prodigal outlay of
ammunition, as to lay mines on the scale which is commonly talked about. |
|
TUESDAY
AUGUST 13, 1861
THE HARTFORD DAILY COURANT |
|
THE BATTLE LOST
The Richmond correspondent of the
Charleston Mercury says:
"It is settled, without question, that at
one time during the fight, our army was on the eve of being defeated.
This was in the early part of the afternoon. Scattered and exhausted as
were our men, victory, for a time, seemed to favor the overwhelming army
of the enemy, and its General, believing he had gained a victory,
dispatched the news to Washington. Happily, at this critical juncture,
Kershaw, Cash and Kemper stemmed and turned the adverse tide, driving
the frightened foe before their accurate and rapid charges. Both
Beauregard and Johnston rallied their forces, and led them in person to
the attack. Son after, Elzey's and Smith's brigades, of about four
thousand men, came up opportunely, and reinforced our army. This
reinforcement, with the heroic rally made by the Generals, after Kershaw
turned the tide in our favor, decided the fortunes of the field."
G. B. Lamar writes to the same effect to a
Savannah paper:
"The enemy thought, up to 4 o'clock, they
had the victory--and so they had; but the opportune arrival of two fresh
regiments turned the battle and gave us a glorious victory. On our
retreat previously, our wounded fell into their hands. They treated them
kindly, lifting them into the shade, and leaving them with canteens full
of water."
A member of the Palmetto Guard writes to
the Mercury as follows:
"The day was lost when our two regiments
came up. Our troops were falling back, and had retired some distance.
Co. Kershaw gave the command forward, and after some ten or twelve
rounds, away went the Yankees. I understand Beauregard said our
regiments 'saved the day'--a second battle of Waterloo.
"No regiment ever entered a battle under
more depressing circumstances than we did. All along our line of march
men were retreating and saying to us that we were defeated. But we went
forward, and the day was won."
A correspondent of the Savannah
Republican, writing from Manassas, opens the eyes of his fellow
citizens as follows:
"I am convinced of one thing--that all
this talk about the federalists being starved, unclothed and
unenthusiastic is absolute fudge. We cannot compare with them in the
perfection of equipments and general preparations. Their haversacks were
full; their blankets are magnificent; their canteens and other
conveniences are ingenious; their medical accommodations are superb. It
is fudge, too, about their enlisting from coercion, and not knowing they
are to fight us. They tell us such tales to mitigate their imprisonment.
They are cute--shrewdness is a Yankee characteristic."
TWO HUNDRED LASHES
The Auburn Advertiser states that a
man named Dunning, who lives at Atlanta, Ga., and is a brother of H. S.
Dunning, of Cayuga County, was recently whipped to two hundred lashes
for expressing the hope that the Union would be sustained. This
information was received from a gentleman in Georgia, formerly a
prominent member of the Baptist Church of Auburn. |
NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS
Correspondents to The Courant will
please bear in mind the following rules:
Every communication should be accompanied
by the name of the writer, not for publication, but for our own
satisfaction and security. In order to insure correctness in the
typography, but one side of the sheet should be written upon.
We shall be greatly obliged to gentlemen
in Connecticut for contributions giving the current news of the day in
their particular localities, the increase of business, or any
information that will be interesting to the general reader.
POLICE DEPARTMENT
The Chief of Police has made his fourth
quarterly report to the commissioners. The arrests numbered: For
drunkenness, 435; breach of peace, 80; assault and battery, 47; theft,
23; prostitution, 10; vagrancy, 14; burglary, 4; passing counterfeit
money, 2; adultery, 2; insanity, 3; horse stealing, 1; attempt at rape,
1; distressed and sick cared for, 2--total, 622. Of this number, 127
were brought before the police Court, and the remaining 495 were
discharged without trial. In addition to the above number, there have
been 810 persons accommodated within the lodgings in the station house
during the quarter.
He regrets to notice a constant increase
of juvenile offenders in the city, and as he considers the parents or
guardians of children at fault, he thinks the police should have power
to send idle children from the streets to the school, or lock them up
until parents or guardians are willing to answer for their good conduct.
He closes by hoping that the police system which has given such
satisfaction for a year, may never be weakened by political influences
or party dissensions--and to this, all good citizens will say Amen.
ADVERTISEMENT
HOOP!
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HOOP!
'Tention the Whole World!
HOOP!
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HOOP!
NOW WE HAVE DONE IT!
H. C. RANSOM
HAS JUST OBTAINED A CONSIGNMENT OF
HOOP SKIRTS!
From one of the most extensive Hoop-Hers
in the country:
I. Nathan & Son's Skirts
Floating Belle; Boston Belle; Eldorado;
Common Sense Skirt; with all other styles of skirts; Tied, Double-tied,
and Woven.
Skirts for 12½¢; for 15¢; for 25¢; for
33¢; for 50¢
RANSOM THE SKIRT MAN!
RANSOM THE SKIRT MAN!
376
MAIN STREET, HARTFORD
300 MAIN STREET, MIDDLETOWN
P.S.--Misses skirts, to fit all sizes,
from little Tot that just walks, to 14 year old Misses.2 |
|
WEDNESDAY
AUGUST 14, 1861
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE PATRIOT |
|
RIOT IN CONCORD
THE STANDARD OFFICE DESTROYED BY A MOB
A scene of violence and outrage, which had
been for over three months in contemplation and preparation, was enacted
in this city on Thursday afternoon. The city of Concord was then given
up to the rule of a mob; the laws were suspended by the concurrence of
the public authorities and "chief citizens;" the legal officers calmly
folded their hands, ignored their official oaths, and permitted the
grossest outrage upon private rights and public order to be committed,
in broad daylight, without an effort to prevent it; in a word, one
of the scenes so often occurring in revolutionary Mexico, was reėnacted
here, when for six or eight hours a political mob had unopposed sway and
wreaked its vengeance, or that of its instigators, upon its chosen
victims.
For over three months the Standard
newspaper office had been doomed to violent destruction; the "men of
property and standing" in the republican party had resolved that freedom
of speech and freedom of the press, unless exercised in accordance with
their views, should not be tolerated; and other means of intimidation
failing, they resolved that the Standard should be given up to
the tender mercies of a political mob, as a warning to other
papers and obnoxious individuals. It was finally decided that this labor
of love should be performed upon the return of the First Regiment, so
that the responsibility and odium of the atrocious work could be palmed
off upon the soldiers.
Accordingly, on Thursday afternoon, while
a portion of the soldiers were here waiting for their pay, "the little
job" was successfully completed. In the course of the fore part of the
day, a number of soldiers were induced to go to the office for copies of
the paper issued the previous Friday, (for none had been since issued.)
Some conversation was then had with the editor (Brackett Palmer,) in
relation to the course of the paper. The soldiers made some threats, and
then went off with their papers, which contained matter offensive
enough, but nothing personal to them; and soon after it was rumored that
the office was to be attacked. Early in the afternoon, a crowd of rowdy
boys and young men, with a few soldiers, began to gather in front of the
building; and by three o'clock it probably numbered five or six hundred,
exclusive of the hundreds of "respectable citizens," the "men of
property and sanding," who had incited the riot and were present to give
it countenance and approval. The printing office was in the third story
of Low's Block, and approached only by a narrow stairway. Within it were
the editor, publisher and printers of the paper--Brackett Palmer and his
four sons. Warned of their danger, they had procured some weapons, and
barred their door. Efforts to obtain entrance by the mob had been made,
but the Marshal and one other individual occupied the stairway and
succeeded in keeping them back; and at this time five resolute policemen
could have put an end to the whole affair. About this time the inmates
came to the front windows, displayed a pistol, a musket and an axe, and
declared their purpose to defend themselves and property, at the same
time calling upon the police for protection. This but added fuel to the
fire, and the pressure upon the individuals defending the stairway
became greater and greater. The Marshal and Mr. John M. Hill then
attempted a compromise, which was very nearly arranged when a rush was
made upon the door, the panels broken in, and three or four of the
rioters attempted to enter the office, when three pistol shots were
fired amongst them in rapid succession from within. One took
effect in the arm of one of the mob, another wounded the finger of
another, and the third went through the cap of another. This sealed the
fate of the office. The Marshal retired to a safe distance to witness
the diabolical work that he might easily have prevented, and no further
effort was made to quell the mob. The windows were quickly
demolished with brick-bats, and the crowd rushed into the office--the
inmates retiring to the attic. Then commenced the work of destruction.
Type, cases, stands, paper, all the materials of the office, were
tumbled out at the windows, and the crowd quickly made a bonfire in the
street of all that was combustible. The office was completely "gutted,"
entirely "cleaned out;" everything in it was destroyed. The work of
destruction went on for more than two hours, without the least show of
interference on the part of the police, although the leaders in the
affair were all known to them, and could have been easily arrested at
any moment. And none of them have since been arrested.
The crowd, numbering a thousand, probably,
continued to surround the office, the few active spirits declaring their
purpose to tar and feather or hang the Palmers. The premises were
strictly guarded to prevent their escape. In the mean- |
time, two or three individuals had
assisted the Palmers from their retreat to another part of the building,
where they were secreted in a private room, and remained until after 7
o'clock, when their hiding place was discovered.Then came the most
hellish part of the day's outrages. A score of the drunken rioters
rushed in, seized one of them by the hair and dragged him down the
stairs to the street, pounding and kicking him in the most savage
manner; and when in the street he was held powerless for the crowd to
kick, beat and bruise to their hearts' content, for the gratification of
the "men of property and standing," public officers and clergymen who
were there "to see the fun." After he had been thus inhumanely beaten,
the police were allowed to take him to their office. Three others were
in succession served the same way--men guilty of no offense except
earning their bread by setting the type for an objectionable newspaper!
The police then took them to the State Prison for protection, where they
remained until Saturday. The old man, in consideration of his gray
hairs, was graciously allowed to go without serious beating. We learn
that, what is truly wonderful, no bones were broken, and no life injury
suffered by either of the victims of this "respectable mob."
Such are the main acts of this disgraceful
outrage. That it was pre-arranged, incited and countenanced by a large
portion of "respectable citizens," was perfectly apparent to any
observer. One Doctor of Divinity declared it to be "a very respectable
mob," in view, probably, of the fact that so many "respectable citizens"
were evidently giving their cordial approval. It might also be called
"an official mob," since State and city officers, including those whose
sworn duty it was to suppress it, took no efficient measures to that
end, but looked on with evident satisfaction, and some of them even
directly encouraged it. It was apparent to all that a dozen resolute
officers could have quelled it at any moment, and we learn that one of
the Marshal's assistants so declared and offered to do it if the men
were furnished; but the men were not furnished. Indeed, one fact shows
both that the mob knew they had the countenance of the authorities, and
that an efficient force could have dispersed it. After the Palmers had
been disposed of, and when the mob was threatening further outrages,
under the promptings of partisan leaders, the authorities became
alarmed, and they then appointed twenty resolute special policemen. As
soon as this was known, without any efforts to that end by the police,
the mob began gradually to disperse; and although a large crowd
remained, yet all danger of further violence ceased. The like cause
would have produced the same effect at any moment during the afternoon.
This was not a soldiers' mob; there were
but a very few soldiers engaged in it. We learn that a Captain who went
into the office when it was being "gutted," says there was not a soldier
there; and other officers said there were not a half a dozen soldiers
actively engaged in it on the outside, except the few who participated
in making bonfires of the property. Great efforts were made to induce
them to join in it by individuals of influence and prominence in this
city, by reading to them the most offensive matter found in the paper,
and by comments thereon. But these efforts were generally futile, as
were also those made to set the mob upon the Patriot office. This
was tried, and the mob was willing; but it was soon discovered that the
soldiers were ready to fight in our defence; and some even of those who
had participated to some extent in the mob, hearing the threats and
efforts to turn the mob upon our office, procured their guns and
stationed themselves at our doors, without our knowledge, for the
protection of our office. And others of them declared that if the
Patriot office was touched, the republican office opposite should be
"cleaned out." This opened the eyes of the "respectable" mobocrats to
the danger of their course, and they wisely concluded to postpone
further proceedings.
-----
The Government has adopted a very
effectual method to induce Irishmen to enlist in the army. The Secretary
of the Navy has ordered all foreigners employed in the Navy Yards, to be
discharged! They will be allowed to fight for the preservation of the
Government, but are not regarded as fit to be employed otherwise in its
service.
-----
The Cost--Mr. Stevens of Penn.,
Chairman of the committee of Ways and means, stated in the House, last
week, that the Government expenses are now a million and a quarter
dollars per day! This is more than FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILLIONS a
year! How long can the Northern States stand this enormous draft upon
the resources of their people? |
|
THURSDAY
AUGUST 15, 1861
THE
PITTSFIELD SUN |
|
"PLAYED-OUT" CHARACTERS
New Haven Palladium--Since the return
of some of the regiments, which took part in the Bull Run engagement, our
exchanges, particularly in New England, , began to be rich in interesting
anecdotes of personal adventure and escape. It would be well enough to avoid
the following conventional characters, who turn up after every noteworthy
battle, viz: 1. The conventional pious soldier, whose little Bible, carried
in his breast pocket, received the bullet and saved his heart; 2. The wicked
militia man with a gin flask in one pocket and a deck of cards in the other,
and he with a bad wound in the groin between the two: for of course no "well
directed" bullet would consent to act as a "special providence" in such a
case; 3. The very old soldier of tales, who comes out of action with a
bullet in his watch, the fortunate interposition of time having prevented
the soldier's entrance upon eternity. One or two of these stock actors
appear in a New Haven paper yesterday, and it is understood that they are
"engaged for the season" in the rural districts.
ONE OF FATHER QUINN'S JOKES
Providence Post--Father Quinn, it is
known to some of us, is a wit, as well as a priest. While in Washington with
the First regiment, he was invited to visit Fort Corcoran, on the other side
of the Potomac, and see the work which had been done by that gallant Irish
Regiment, the New York Sixty-Ninth. He accepted the invitation, and was, of
course, much pleased with the appearance of the fort, which had grown into
being thro' the hard labor, with pick and shovel, of these true soldiers.
"Why," said he, to the gentleman who accompanied him, "they talk of Southern
chivalry, but it can't hold a candle to Northern shovelry."
CONTRACT FOR EIGHT HUNDRED HOUSES
The Baltimore Sun states that Michael
Roche, builder and contractor of that city, has contracted with a company in
Havana to construct no less than 800 frame houses, of three classes, varying
in size and embellishments to suit the three classes of society found in
Havana--the poor, the middle and the rich. All the houses will be one story
in height, with the apartments succeeding each other on the ground floor,
and running back to a great depth. The object of the company is to place a
dwelling within the reach of every man's means. Parties become subscribers,
and by paying a certain amount monthly come into possession of the house and
lot at the expiration of 8 years, when payment ceases. The frames are to be
fitted together in this country and then shipped to Havana. The value of the
contract will be several millions of dollars, and will prove a great
blessing to the mechanics of Baltimore.
-----
On Thursday we were shown by Elisha S. Tracy,
Esq., a stalk of rye, taken from his field, the head of which had on it a
number of small red insects, which he thinks will destroy the crop, as the
sample shown us is but a specimen of the entire field. In other towns we
hear of the ravages of the same insect in the rye and oat fields. |
WHAT IS AN INCOME TAX?
The passage of the Direct Tax Bill, with a
provision for levying a rate on incomes, causes many to enquire what comes
under this head by the law. The N. Y. Evening Post says, in
explanation: "Direct taxation is levied in part on property, and in part on
incomes. Of course, provision is made that no one shall be compelled to pay
twice. Those subject to the income tax are all who receive regular wages, or
salaries; all companies and corporate institutions who have gains or profits
derived from sources not otherwise taxed by this act; and all who have
incomes derived 'from any source of business, trade or vocation, dividends
of stocks, interest of money or debts, salaries, interest on legacies,
annuities, or derived from any other source, within or beyond the boundaries
of the United States.' No such incomes are taxed if they do not exceed eight
hundred dollars per annum, after the State and local taxes are paid; and of
course, a business man's income is defined as his net profit, after he has
paid all labor accounts. Income taxes were levied in England so long ago as
1512. In that year Parliament granted a subsidy of two-fifteenths of the
income of the Commons, and two-tenths from the clergy, to enable the King to
maintain a war wit France. In 1803 a rate of five per cent. was levied on
all incomes over $750, and a lower rate on smaller incomes. In 1805, this
rate was raised to six and one-half per cent, and, in 1806, to ten per cent.
This was one of the means by which England supported her wars with Napoleon.
Sir Robert Peel's Income Tax levied a rate of nearly three per cent.;
exactly £2 18s. 4d per cent. At present the rate varies a little. Every few
years, according to the condition of the British finances, it is lowered by
a penny, whenever it can be done; and raised when there is a deficit."
DECREASE OF THE POPULATION OF IRELAND
The census of Ireland has just been completed.
The population now is five millions seven hundred and sixty-four thousand
five hundred and forty-three, a decrease of seven hundred and eighty seven
thousand three hundred and forty-two since 1851, or twelve per cent. Since
1841 the decrease has been thirty-six per cent. Number of Catholics, four
million five hundred thousand; of Protestants, one million two hundred and
seventy-three thousand nine hundred and sixty.
-----
So far about 70 vessels have been purchased
and 30 chartered by the Navy Department for the purposes of the war.
-----
Kissing by the Regiment--The Webster
Times relates the following incident of the return of the regiment: "
The engine halted for water at the North Village, and as the girls in
Slater's mills had congregated upon the lawn between the mill and the
railroad track, the soldiers flocked from the cars and occupied the few
minutes of the halt in the most prolonged and indiscriminate kissing, to
which the blushing girls submitted with a commendable and becoming grace."
--Worcester Spy.
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FRIDAY
AUGUST 16, 1861
THE LIBERATOR |
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A LOOK INTO A SECESSION MAIL-BAG
Washington, Aug. 6, 1861--The most
curious and yet saddening sight I have seen is the contents of a
Secession mail-bag, taken at Centreville, and filled with Southern
letters from all parts of the South, but mostly from South Carolina. I
found the mail at the house of a distinguished officer of the United
States Army, in whose possession it was placed. All the letters had been
examined, and their contents were mostly social. A single letter, from
the Manassas post, mentioned the estimated arrival of troops at
Manassas, just before the late battle, at 1,000 a day. This was the only
public information of warlike importance. Some of the letters also spoke
of the crops, and the general representation was that they were
excellent, both of cotton and corn. Provisions, too, seemed to be
plentiful enough, but in one letter there was a loud cry for salt,
and in others for sugar, coffee and tea, and in another for clothing.
One might gather from the total contents also, that there was a scarcity
of arms and munitions of war.
But the most striking parts of all those
letters was the intensified hate of most of the writers for the
Northerners, and especially for "the Yankees," as most of the Northern
people are called at the South. Beelzebub himself, inspired by all the
demons of Pandemonium, could hardly have improvised more bitterness,
contempt or passion. The temper of the letters written by the women was
four-fold worse than the compositions of the men. In one place the "dear
creatures," in petticoats, were threatening to get up full suits of
female garments to present to the young men who would not volunteer for
the war, to put down the mean, invading Yankees! One amiable girl wanted
her lover to kill a Yankee or two, and then come home to her arms and
heart! Another female, a little more blood-thirsty, bid her lover
God-speed in this work of killing Yankees! Another hoped the horrid
creatures would be exterminated on the field of battle! Still another
had heard, and feared that the report was true, the horrid Yankees had
sent some of their number to Manassas to noculate the Southern army
with small pox!! This good woman had probably heard of the two live
Yankees who visited Canada, the one shaking hands with everybody, and
communicating the itch, and the other following close at his heels, with
his boxes of itch ointment which were warranted to cure! At any rate,
our South Carolina lady, (an Edgefield woman, I believe,) feared that
the Yankees would spread small pox, measles, and every other contagious
disease, to their excellent and amiable countrymen of the South.
In some of the letters there was a tone of
piety mingled with bountiful reflections upon Yankee hypocrisy and
rascality. Now and then there was a prayer for peace, and an honest wish
that the war was over! Kindness and good feeling towards friends and
neighbors at home, with expressions of gallantry for soldiers "fighting
the enemies of the South," were common enough. But toward us poor
Yankees, or Northerners, there was no bitter thought nor coarse
expression which did not find utterance. Somebody ahs to answer for all
this boiled-down fanaticism and malignity--the teachings of a calumnious
press, of vituperative public men, and of a general bad education.
The letters I read were generally not from
the so-called better classes of citizens. The school-master, if ever at
home, was abroad when most of them were written. The expressions were
common-place, and the style as atrocious as the sentiments uttered were
generally pernicious and vindictive. |
IMMINENT PERIL OF A SLAVE INSURRECTION
CORRESPONDENCE OF THE NEW YORK
TRIBUNE
Jonesborough, Tenn., July 28, 1861.--I
take the stage hence for Morgantown, N. C., to-morrow, but will meantime
drop you a few lines from this point. My journey thus far has not been
altogether without adventure, especially that part of it from Lexington,
Kentucky, but of this I reserve details till my return.
The intelligence from North Carolina is of
a rather exciting nature. In addition to the general and growing popular
discontent at the miserable mismanagement of affairs since the State was
plunged into Secession, the most alarming apprehension are indulged, of
a fearful and bloody outbreak of the slaves. For months, this class of
the population have been betraying great uneasiness, occasioned
doubtless, by the unusual, and to them rather inexplicable military
movements about them, and which they not very strangely suppose in some
way to concern themselves. There are numerous rumors afloat to the
effect that in some of the middle counties, servants have risen on their
masters, and that whole families have been brutally butchered at
midnight. To these reports, however, I am slow to give credence; I
believe they are mostly the creations of imaginations always lively to
the latent perils of slaveholding society, and now especially
distempered by the aggravated dangers of the times. But "where there is
so much smoke there must be some fire;" and it may turn out that the
facts have not been exaggerated, and that North Carolina, and perhaps
the whole South, is on the eve of a most sanguinary and desolating
servile insurrection. That such a calamity is intelligently feared is
certain; and its horrors may startle humanity at any moment. It is
stated that such is the refractory disposition of the colored people of
late, in the more largely slaveholding section of the State, and so
manifest are the symptoms of contemplated and preconcerted mischief,
that an earnest requisition has been made upon Western Carolinians, for
the immediate moving to the disaffected quarter of Home Guards, (who, by
the way, are nearly all strong Union men,) to the amount of two or three
regiments, for the prompt suppression of the anticipated uprisal.
The white men of the endangered region,
capable of bearing arms, with hardly an exception, are absent from their
homes in the rebel service in Virginia, taking most of the available
arms with them, and the women and children are thus left, by this
infatuated desertion on the part of their natural protectors, utterly
defenseless against brutalities and outrages, which the heart shudders
to imagine. It is a fact of great significance--and I believe it to be a
fact, for my informant is perfectly reliable--that the Home Guards have
refused to proceed to the relief of their imperilled neighbors,
under any other banner than the Stars and Stripes, and upon condition,
furthermore, that the Secession flag shall be everywhere hauled down at
their approach. Should an insurrection in North Carolina or any other
Southern State, assume the formidable proportions which appear to be
threatened in this instance, it would be the manifest duty of the
Federal Government to promptly intervene t put it down. We regard the
Seceded States as still in the Union, in spite of the pretension of
withdrawal made by the demagogues who now bear sway there, and their
people are evidently entitled to the protection of promised in the
National Constitution.
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SATURDAY
AUGUST 17, 1861
THE NORWICH MORNING BULLETIN |
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WHAT THIS WAR MAY BECOME
To those who have closely studied the
origin and the progress of the great contest in which we are engaged,
one thing is painfully evident--That is, that we do not appear to
appreciate as we should the vital issues involved in it, nor the
possible sacrifices that we may be called upon to make. The simple
issues of a foreign war can easily be understood, and can be met without
any further stimulant than an ordinary appreciation of national honor;
but when the whole future of a nation, and possibly even its very
existence, hang upon the result of an internal war, too much anxiety
cannot be felt that the people shall have the most perfect understanding
of the matter in dispute, and the keenest realization of their own
interest in the conflict. In summing up the issues which are before the
people to-day, it might be briefly said perhaps that this war is one for
sustaining the government, crushing the rebellion, and perpetuating the
Union. Such a statement may comprehend the whole question, and yet it
fails of presenting it in as clear a light as its importance demands. If
we wish to understand the great importance of the contest, we
should bear in mind the possible consequences of defeat.
Were the rebel leaders to succeed in their
infamous conspiracy, and obtain the independence of the slaveholding
States we might expect this event to be followed by a long train of
aggravated evils. We should in that case be confronted with a foreign
nation at our doors--of our lineage, and speaking our tongue, it is
true, but none the more likely to be friendly on that account than the
government of Great Britain. In fact we should be more exposed to the
chances of war with the Southern Confederacy than with England. The
escapades of slaves, the operations of smugglers along the extended
borders, questions relating to territories, to the navigation of the
Mississippi, and other important interests, added to the recklessness of
the Southern fire-eaters, would be constant subjects of dispute. We
should be compelled to maintain, at great expense, a large standing army
and navy, and the burdens of taxation for defensive purposes would
increase to a magnitude far above our past experience. We should,
moreover, be exposed to the chances of war with foreign powers. Hitherto
they have respected our strength, but who will give any European
government the credit of supposing that it would neglect to advance its
own interests upon this continent with all possible haste, in the event
of the establishment of the Southern Confederacy. Our government is
pledged to secure the neutrality of the Isthmus of Darien. It is easy to
see that with a divided nation the difficulties in the way of making
that pledge good will be vastly increased.
But thee is no necessity for discussing
our probable relations with all other powers. If we are conquered in
this war, we shall, which is the greatest calamity of all, have lost our
prestige as a Republic, and Liberty will have suffered a
staggering blow. It is for this reason that the oppressed of all nations
are now straining their eyes hitherward with the most intense anxiety to
witness the success of the Union cause. If the Republic begins to totter
and crumble, the one bright land of promise to the down-trodden is
overclouded, Many a heart would be sickened, and many a hope cast down. |
If the characteristics and the ideas of
Southern society signify anything, it is, that the democratic principles
of our government are not those which would control a Southern
Confederacy. The leading men in the South denounce the idea that the
majority of voters should govern. They cannot submit, with their
aristocratic feelings, and chivalric sense of dignity, to the rule of
the working men--the "mudsills" of our Northern society. They desire a
government which shall be controlled by "gentlemen." Mr. Russell
declares in his letters to the London Times that he found in
South Carolina an almost universal desire for a monarchy. here is
another sign of the times. If we permit this rebellion to succeed, what
guarantee have we that in less than fifty years the ruler of the
"Southern Confederacy" would not wield a scepter. The idea is much more
probable than absurd. It may be that this war will become, if it may not
be fairly considered as such already, a conflict between the principles
of popular freedom and those of monarchy. We have the practical
settlement of the question in our hands to-day. Is it honorable to
ourselves, or just to those who shall come after us, to shrink from it?
A $200,000 GOVERNMENT PRIZE
New York, Aug. 16--Thos. S.
Serrill, a violent secessionist, was arrested on the arrival of the
Persia, with £40,000 sterling in Bank of England notes in his
possession, the proceeds of a loan for the Confederate States. Serrill
belongs in New Orleans, is about 50 years old, and is very wealthy. A
number of letters and important papers were also found in his
possession.
FROM BOSTON
Boston, Aug. 16--The preliminary
examination of Hewett and Walsh, before the U.S. Commissioners, charged
with inciting soldiers to desert Massachusetts regiments, for the
purpose of joining the New York Irish Brigade, resulted in the
defendants being bound over for trial.
Charles Centre, an employee in the Boston
Post Office, is under arrest, charged with opening and robbing letters
of valuable contents.
The activity at the Navy Yard was never
greater than now. The following auxiliary vessels for the blockading
fleet will soon be equipped for service: Steamer Cambridge;
sailing vessels, Gemsbok, Piermont, Kingfisher,
Ino and Young Rover. These vessels will carry cannon
of a long range.
THE SAYBROOK MEETING
We learn from passengers on the late train
from New Haven last night, that the meeting of rebel sympathizers
advertised to come off in Saybrook on Friday, at which Bill Eaton was to
make a speech, and somebody else hoist a flag--didn't come off according
to programme. Instead thereof, we understand Capt. Jos. R. Hawley made a
Union speech, some of the Secessionists got hustled, and the "Peace" men
lived up to their principles by holding their peace just as hard as they
could. |
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1 "To catch a Tartar" means to
lay hold of, or encounter, a person who proves too strong for the assailant.
2 There have got to be some free
steak knives in there somewhere . . .
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