SUNDAY
SEPTEMBER 28, 1862
THE TIMES PICAYUNE (LA)

A Curious Case—A White Child Bound to a Negro.—Two or three years ago, Margaret Mitchell, a white woman, was admitted into the Philadelphia Hospital. She had with her a child. The mother died, leaving the child to the care of the guardians. In January of the present year, the relatives of the child called upon the Committee on Children’s Asylum, and stated to the members that the child had three uncles, one in the 20th (Mozart Regiment) New York; one in the 1st Kentucky Regiment, and a third in the 26th Pennsylvania Regiment, Col. Small; that the uncles were well able to support the child, and were anxious to get it. Mrs. Murphy, who had visited the committee, was promised that the child should be given up, and was requested to call the following week at the office in Seventh street. She called at the time appointed, and was then informed that the child, a girl four years of age, had been bound out, but they would send the agent to look after it, and she was requested to call again.

On the 7th day of February last, Miss Murphy again called, and was then told by the agent, Mr. Sebly, that the child had been adopted in a most respectable family. This was satisfactory to the relatives, and they employed John O’Byrne to inquire into the case. Mr. O’Byrne called in May last, and had an interview with the committee on children’s asylum, and represented to the gentlemen, Messrs. Server and Erety, that the child had a grandmother living, a very respectable old lady, who would give any amount of security to the county for the proper care of the little girl; that it was the request of the three uncles that the child should be taken from the almshouse and cared for by the family. The matron of the children’s asylum came up and remarked that the child was very well taken care of there, and her interests were better cared for than was possible for the family, judging from the improvident character of the mother, who had died in the institution.

Mr. O’Byrne was unable at this interview to get any clue to the whereabouts of the child, and he then recommended to the relatives to sue out a writ of habeas corpus, and thus secure some definite information in regard to the child. This advice was followed, and about a month ago Mr. O’Byrne, as attorney for the relatives, procured the writ, directed to the Guardians of the Poor. The hearing was postponed from time to time upon various pretexts. About a week ago, Mr. O’Byrne was told that the child had died, and that he had better drop all proceedings now as unnecessary. But he persevered, and insisted that proof of the death should be made in court.

On Saturday the case was heard and a most astounding fact was disclosed. It appeared that at the very time the relatives had been told that the child was with a very respectable family, it had been already indentured to a colored man named John Edwards, a shoemaker, residing in Delphin street. The indentures were dated the 20th May 1861. It was while residing with him that the child died. The parties who bound the child to Edwards could not have mistaken him for a white man, as his color was distinctly marked. The death of the child of course ended the proceedings under the writ of habeas corpus, and it remains to be seen what action the Board of Guardians will take.—Philadelphia Ledger.¹

Running the Blockade.—The steamer Ann, belonging to Z. C. Pearce, Esq., Mayor of Hull, England, has succeeded in landing two-thirds of her cargo at Wilmington, N.C., before she was captured. That portion of the cargo landed was sold at a profit exceeding ten times the amount of the original cost of the entire cargo. The steamer Hero, of Hull, which left Hull on the 20th of April, has succeeded in running the blockade, and has got safely into Charleston. She had a considerable quantity of gunpowder on board.

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The Japanese Ambassadors and Crinoline.—The Japanese Ambassadors made no calculation for crinoline’s expansive limits in cutting off lengths of handsome stuffs for presents to the ladies of Europe during their sojourn among us. They recently presented a most magnificent dress to the Queen of Prussia, but it was found to be much too short in quantity, whereupon they gallantly declared their intention of dispatching express, if even by an extra ship, the extra quantity necessary to the complete dress.

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Marriage.—Marriage is the natural state of human kind. There never can be lasting good health without it; it is an impossibility, except combined with criminal practices. A person may live in good health to the age of twenty-five, but if marriage is deferred beyond that, every month’s delay is the eating out, more and more, [of] the very essence of life and the worm of certain disease and premature death burrows the more deeply into the vitals. On the other hand, marriage not later than twenty-five prolongs life. It was for this reason, noticed some three thousand years ago, that the ancients dedicated a temple to Hymen, the god of youth, that is, “to the deity which prolongs life.” Men and women get older more rapidly when they remain single, and die off more rapidly; the men from falling into dissipated habits and irregularities. The woman, true to nature’s instincts, and living in her purity, grows less and less vivacious, and by slow degrees settles down in inaction, in feebleness, and premature decline.

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Cheap Gas.—Messrs. De Goicouria & Co., No. 82 Poydras street, have their store lighted by gas made in a new patent machine, that does not occupy a space of over three square feet, and which is not at all objectionable to the sight, but is of a neat and compact form; nor is there any offensive smell emitted from it. The cost of making the gas by this machine, we learn, is one-half less than that of the article furnished by the Gas Company. These machines would be particularly useful to persons residing in the country, and outside of the gas limits, as well as to citizens. The apparatus is so simple in its make that any person can make gas at once. The light it gives is as pure and brilliant as possible. We recommend gas consumers to call and see the operation of the new machine.

MONDAY
SEPTEMBER 29, 1862
THE MACON DAILY TELEGRAPH (GA)

The Madness of Lincoln.

At the precise moment when our victorious troops are in the border States tendering their oppressed people an opportunity to throw off the Abolition yoke, Lincoln comes forth with a sweeping emancipation programme to take effect in January next! We look upon it as an intervention of Providence to open the eyes of the people of those States to the delusions practiced upon them by their Lincolnite leaders, and rouse them at the critical moment to manly resistance. What may be the notions of policy in the mind of the Lincoln Administration which dictated this frantic proclamation, we may conjecture, but it is not worth the time to explain. Enough that it is like all his other movements—suicidal.

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Prisoners from the West.

The Confederate prisoners from the West give accounts of their treatment while in duress, enough to make the blood boil. They say that even the lives of the captives were matters of sport, and fifty cent bets among the Federal guard; and many were shot on the merest cold blooded wantonness. At Sandusky the Confederate officers were made victims of barbarous neglect and the meanest conceivable system of plunder. Every valuable article in their baggage was stolen. An  intelligent returned office with whom we conversed, says the system of patrolling Yankee prisoners, when taken, is the most valuable idea yet put into practice by the Confederate authorities, and if carried out faithfully, will demoralize and destroy any army the Federals may put into the field. Their men embrace every chance to desert and surrender for the purpose of escaping military service, and nothing but the assurance that a ready and certain parole awaits them, is lacking to undermine all confidence and efficiency in the Northern armies. Especially will this be found true when drafted men are brought into the field; but our informant was of opinion that drafting had been suspended in the North for no other reason than that the Lincoln Government was afraid of the effect it would produce.

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The Gallantry of the Confederates.

The Washington correspondent of the St. Louis Republican, writing concerning the recent battles near Manassas, says:

It is to be noted that all who were in the late battles bear witness to the splendid generalship and bravery of the enemy. Said a Colonel with his arm in a sling, when surrounded by a large crowd of eager listeners at his hotel, “There is a dash about these Southerners absolutely terrific; we can’t stop the devils when they charge, without killing them all—and sometimes we do that—but if we don’t they are bound to take our batteries.”

The advance of the enemy on Pope’s left, on Saturday, is described as the grandest scene of the kind in the war. When Lee arrived, every gap in their line of battle was filled up, and the whole advanced in phalanx so solid and deep it looked like a forest of bayonets, stretching up and down our front for full three miles, and overlapping our extreme left wing. On they came, steady and slow at first, our batteries playing on their columns, but theirs, in commanding positions, throwing shot and shell over their heads into our artillerists and  guns. Their line never wavered, but, advancing within musket range, it drew the fire of our troops without flinching; then their guns came to a level, and belched forth a staggering fire, followed by a charge of the whole mass. Arriving at close quarters, the musketry was continued, while more than two opposing regiments crossed bayonets. Five minutes decided it. The left could not stand the pressure and began to waver. Our batteries were silenced or captured, and the foe had desperation and numbers on their side. “Fall back, fall back!” rang out along our line, from left to center, and from center to right—and the enemy once again triumphed on the fields of Bull Run.

McClellan’s Force.

There is little doubt that McClellan has massed together, at Sharpsburg, the largest fighting force ever brought to the field on this continent, and very rarely in the history of the great European wars. The prisoners captured by our army report that he had “over one hundred thousand.” The cautious Richmond Enquirer says he had one hundred and fifty thousand, and “Personne” in the Courier, writing from the battle field, says his force was two hundred thousand. We may safely assume that his force was very large; and that such an army was repulsed and made to take the back track by half its numbers, is no doubt one great fact that made the battle, in the opinion of Gen. Lee, the most damaging to the enemy of any during the war.

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A Wonder and a Moral.

The Sharpsburg battle correspondent of the New York Herald says:

“It is beyond all wonder how men such as the rebel troops are can fight as they do. That these ragged and filthy wretches, sick, hungry, and in all ways miserable, should prove such heroes in fight, is past explanation. Men never fought better.”

And stranger still will seem to all our readers the surprise that men should fight like heroes  for home and country—or should be incapable of great achievements, simply because circumstances for the nonce have compelled them to wear ragged clothes and forbidden washing and saving. But this same idea is truly Northern, and enters much deeper into the origin of our troubles than many a man would suppose at first blush. With the North, externals are everything. A stranger is judged by what he wears and by his surroundings. This rule of judgment applied to the South, aided materially to beget that feeling of undervaluation, if not contempt, actuated by which the North was induced to believe they could harmlessly set up a Northern sectional domination over the South. No doubt it is a great wonder and a great vexation, too, to these gentry to see their nicely dressed legions flying before our  wool-hat, “butternut”-coated and shoeless boys. We have no doubt they are realizing for the first time that gold lace is but a small part of a soldier.

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The Last Rumor.—Reliable brought a rumor straight from Richmond yesterday that Gen. Lee had concluded an armistice with McClellan, whereat the people of Richmond were much incensed. We hope nobody in this region will suffer his philosophy to be disturbed the smallest particle by the additional currency we have given to the report. Lincoln must have time to play out that last great trump card of emancipation before he will be satisfied that there has been fighting enough.

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From accounts taken from Richmond papers it will be seen that McClellan is probably in full retreat and Gen. Lee upon his heels. The news yesterday was, on the whole, vastly encouraging.

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If our Generals are determined on withholding as long as possible all authentic and official reports from our armies, they should take measures to prepare the admission and circulation of the false bulletins and reports of Halleck, McClellan and other Yankee Generals.

Our people are not afraid of the truth, whether adverse or favorable, but we beg to be delivered from the Yankee reports and reporters.—Charleston Courier.

TUESDAY
SEPTEMBER 30, 1862
THE HARTFORD DAILY COURANT (CT)

Cincinnati, Sept. 29.—The Augusta, Ky., correspondent of the Gazette says that the place was attacked by six hundred and forty rebels, with two cannon, under command of a brother of John Morgan. The Union forces under Col. Bradford, numbering 120, took refuge in the houses and fired from the windows, killing and wounding 90 men. Among the killed were three captains, one of them the younger brother of Morgan. Among the mortally wounded was Lieut. Col. Prentice, son of George D. Prentice.

The rebels were so exasperated at their losses that they set fire to the houses, and two squares of the town were burned. Our loss was nine killed and fifteen wounded.

The balance of our forces were taken prisoners. Subsequently a Union force from Maysville intercepted and attacked the rebels, when they fled in a panic. The result of the pursuit is not known.

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Arrival of the Europe.
ONE DAY LATER.

Cape Race, Sept. 29.—The Europa was boarded Saturday afternoon. Her news is unimportant. The London papers are still harping on America.

A telegraphic dispatch from Holyhead on the evening of the 19th inst., reports the screw steamer Alabama, better known as No. 290, is off that port, having had to put back. The report is thought to be incorrect.

The London Daily News editorially taunts the friends of secession with being jubilant over the triumph of the slave power, and asks who is to be the better for it? It says that should the hopes of the English friends of secession be realized and twenty millions of freemen of the North content to let six millions in the South give law to their continent, we may expect them asserting the free exercise of the right of trade on the coast of Africa. We shall find that they will be as little disposed to defer to our notions about the African slave trade today as they have been to accept the doctrine of New England about the slave trade between the states, which is a right Jeff. Davis has expressly reserved for the South. His admirers in England may find they have not yet done him all the service he requires.

The London Times earnestly denounces the policy of the abolitionists of the North in seeking to raise the Negroes of the South against the masters. It says that the idea of the abolitionists is to organize a series of Cawnpore massacres² as legitimate devices of warfare, but it thinks they will not be successful in the attempt. It adds, "Indeed it is difficult to see how a proclamation by a besieged and a fugitive President can have any greater effect than the documents issued by such generals as Hunter and Phelps, inciting the Negroes to revolt." It trusts that President Lincoln will refrain from an act which will be at once a crime and a blunder which will in no way advance the Federal cause, but deepen, and make eternal the hatred between the two sections.

The New York correspondent of the London Times is of the opinion that "Europe need not fear that the North will unite to repel foreign intervention, its courage gone, the game is lost."

The Chambers of Commerce of Liverpool and Manchester had presented an address to Mr. Loring, who made a lengthy address on Indian affairs, in which he said, "We could not expect more than a million and a quarter bales of cotton from India during the next twelve months. If therefore it should be impossible to get the cotton raised in the Southern States, the present crisis must go on with augmenting force twelve months, and the recognition between England and the other great powers of the Southern Confederacy."

Jute is authoritatively pronounced too brittle for a substitute for cotton, and had fallen 9 to 10 £s per ton, from the highest point during the late excitement.

The distress at Mulhouse exceeds anything in Lancashire.

Explosion of a Steamboat at Middletown.—The boiler of the tug-boat Monitor exploded yesterday morning while lying at her dock in Middletown, instantly killing her Captain (Chase) and two men. The boat was made a complete wreck and sunk soon after. The fragments were blown in all directions, some landing in Portland, opposite Middletown, and some into the Camp Ground half a mile from the scene of the disaster. The engineer was asleep at the time and the engine was in charge of the fireman and cook. The bodies of the killed were recovered during the morning.

The Monitor was owned in Troy and was worth from $5,000 to $6,000, whether insured or not we cannot say.

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So far from the fortification of Cincinnati being abandoned it is pushed forward with the utmost vigor. A "Black Brigade" has been organized, consisting of the colored men of the city, who are throwing up earthworks with a marvelous celerity and earning $1.20 per day for their labor.³

Bedding Horses on Sawdust.—A late issue of the London Field contains an experiment, the feasibility of which has been discussed somewhat in our columns. The writer says:

"Having used sawdust as a bedding for horses for a length of time, the results of my experience may not be unacceptable to some of your inquiring readers. I litter the horses on it to the depth of six and nine inches, raking off the damp and soiled surface every morning, and spreading evenly a little fresh, removing the whole only four times a year. Its advantages appear to be many, of which I will state a few which give it, in my estimation, its great superiority over straw. It is much cleaner and more easily arranged, and of course much cheaper at first cost, making in the end excellent manure. It is peculiarly beneficial to the feet, affording them a cool, porous staffing, a substitute for the soil or earth we always find in the hoofs of a horse at grass, and present the nearest resemblance to the horse’s natural footing—the earth. We have never had a diseased foot since the introduction of sawdust in the stable, now some years since. Horses bedded on sawdust are also freer from dust and stains than on ordinary litter (simply because sawdust is a better absorbent, perhaps,) and testify their own approval of it by frequently rolling and lying down for hours in the day. It also has the recommendation of being eatable—an advantage which all in charge of horses with the habit of consuming their litter will readily admit. Being free from pungent smell, which is apt to accompany straw, (unless scrupulously kept,) it is innocent to weak eyes, and its slight turpentine odor is rather a sweetener than otherwise. It makes (when converted to manure) the best possible foundation for hot-beds, and unlike other stable manure, forms no harbor or refuge for vermin. Pine sawdust is the best, and oak the worst, as the latter turns black the second day."

WEDNESDAY
OCTOBER 1, 1862
THE CONSTITUTION (CT)

Explosion and Three Lives Lost.—Our citizens were startled on Sunday night between 12 and 1 o’clock by a loud report which shook their dwellings and indicated that some great calamity had occurred. The night was cloudy and dark and it was impossible to discover the cause of the disturbance. In the morning it was discovered that the boiler of a steam tug lying at Fisk’s dock had blown up, and that three men had been instantly killed.

The name of the unfortunate boat was the Monitor, of Troy, N.Y., Capt. Edward R. Sprung. The boat was to leave at 2 o’clock, and fires had been kindled at about 10 to get up steam. The engineer, George H. Jones, had given particular orders to the fireman to be watchful and had directed the cook to sit up with him so that he might not drop to sleep. The captain had also shown unusual anxiety lest something should happen, and had sat up till a late hour. But, strange as it appear, all hands on board went to sleep, and left the fire burning briskly under the boilers! Precisely that result happened which any one might have foreseen. The boiler exploded with a terrible report at the hour we have mentioned. The upper works of the boat were torn to pieces, and the hull sank to the bottom. The only survivor of those on board was the engineer, who first found himself with his head just above water and his entangled in the wreck. He managed to extricate himself, and went immediately to the house of Mr. Elisha F. Bidwell, in Washington street, who was the pilot of the boat, and was going on board at 2 o’clock. Nothing could be done until morning when efforts were made to obtain the bodies of the unfortunate men. The bodies of the fireman and cook were found under the timbers and taken out. They were badly crushed and much disfigured. A jury of inquest was summoned. Not a trace has been found of the captain.

The Monitor had been engaged as a tug boat on the river during the summer. Everything was as it should be about her boiler and machinery, and the calamity was apparently the result of carelessness. Pieces of the boat were thrown in all directions, and into the yards and on the roofs of neighboring buildings.

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New Toll Bridge.—One of the greatest of conveniences and the most Yankee of contrivances is the toll bridge across the creek on the way to Camp Mansfield. It is a sort of pontoon bridge, that is to say it floats on the surface of the water, provided a too heavy individual does not get aboard, when it ceases to be a bridge at all. That bridge collects a toll of one cent, which, with  five or eight hundred passengers a day, will pay  a very fair percentage on the original outlay, and might afford a margin for improvements. Thin people are advised that the bridge is perfectly safe, but any gentleman or lady whose weight is more than two hundred avoirdupois had better walk around by the road even if it is a hot day.

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At Hubbard’s steam saw and planing mill on Saturday, a young man Martin Rich, who lives in Bowlane in the south part of town, met with a serious accident. His hand came in contact with a circular saw, and instantly he lost the fourth and fifth fingers of one hand and the third finger was split open. Those saws perform amputations in splendid style, and such as have no wish for such operations will do well to give them a wide berth.

Coal.—There is now a prospect of a high price for coal this season. It may reach as high as eight and ten dollars a ton. Without doubt more wood will be burnt this winter than usual, and there will be a good market for all that shall be brought in. At Newark, N.J., the coal dealers now ask $7 a ton. The demand at the mines is greater than can be supplied, owing to the delay by the freshet and the scarcity of miners in consequence of the war. At Elizabethtown, one day last week, there were over two hundred vessels waiting at the wharves for loads.

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The Rebel Losses at the battle of Antietam much exceeded ours. Between three and four thousand rebel dead have been buried by our men, and the rebels themselves buried a large number previous to their retreat into Virginia. They left five thousand of their wounded within the lines. It is thought that their losses cannot be much less than twenty thousand in killed and wounded, while ours is estimated at about twelve hundred killed, six thousand wounded, and eight hundred missing. In the battles of Maryland we have captured thirty five stand of colors, sixteen cannon, and between thirty-five and forty thousand stand of arms.⁴

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All hail the glorious Proclamation of Freedom from our Chief Magistrate! We have waited for it as the invalid watches during the long weary hours of the painful night, for the first gleam of day; as the shipwrecked mariner, amid the surging billows and gathering darkness, strains every nerve to catch a glimpse of the white sail in the far distance; or as, perchance, the angels watched in the morning of our sin-crushed world “for the fullness of time” which should herald redemption though with infinite agony and crucifixion.

The only sin dyed upon our starry flag which the eyes of the nations could discern is fading from its folds. The prayer of the oppressed has been heard in heaven, and though a just God is answering it through blood and untold anguish, yet “the Father will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger forever.” All reverent praise to Him who will accomplish the purification of our nation through suffering. Immortal honor to the martyred heroes whose lives are freely offered for our redemption. Undying fame for all who, self forgetful, are laboring in their country’s service, and still from the advancing ages of prosperous peace and increasing glory, shall echo and re-echo the glad prayer “God bless Abe Lincoln.”

THURSDAY
OCTOBER 2, 1862
PORTLAND DAILY ADVERTISER (ME)

From the Army of the Potomac.—The Baltimore American of Saturday had intelligence that a large force of cavalry and artillery, numbering over five thousand men, under command of Gen. Sumner, started on a reconnoissance from Harper’s Ferry at three o’clock on Friday afternoon toward Charlestown. A mile from the Ferry they started up a picket of one hundred and fifty rebel cavalry, captured some of them and were in pursuit of the balance. At five o’clock in the afternoon cannonading was heard in the direction of Charlestown, but no intelligence had been received at the Ferry as to the result of the reconnoissance, which was intended to feel the position of the enemy up toward Shepherdstown and Martinsburg.

An officer direct from headquarters represented the army in fine condition and excellent spirits, anxious to move on the enemy again at the earliest possible moment. Their confidence in Gen. McClellan has increased ten-fold, and the wisdom of his declining to dash across the river into the trap the enemy had prepared for him is now universally admitted. A grand movement of the army was, however, momentarily expected, and every arrangement was making for it, but no one had the slightest idea as to the course that would be taken. All anticipated that the present week would be big with events of importance.

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Something About to Take Place.—There is something going on here to-day—one cannot fail to see it. Troops are moving in various directions, and you will hear before long of something stirring. Not that McClellan’s army is ready to push on and attack the enemy at the present moment, for it is not entirely ready for such a movement, though it may be hastened by events not within the control of the Government.—Wash. Cor. Boston Traveller.

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Englishmen do not Find it Profitable Running the Blockade.—For some days past it has been known that the house of Mr. Z. C. Pearson, shipowner, of Hull, was in embarrassment, and this afternoon the announcement has been formally made of his inability to meet his acceptance. The difficulty has been occasioned by large ventures to the Southern ports of America. Some of the ships dispatched have been captured, while in the case of those that have succeeded in running the blockade and realizing heavy profits, the agents  find difficulty in transmitting the proceeds with safety and punctuality. As soon as these can be obtained there will, it is said, be a good surplus. The total liabilities are supposed to be large, but the major portion is secured. The liabilities of Mr. Pearson were stated at four hundred thousand pounds sterling (£400,000) when the Bohemian sailed.—London Times.

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A Disconsolate View of the Battles in Maryland.—The only paper in Richmond which seems at all inclined to print an unpalatable truth is the Examiner. While the other papers were claiming great victories in Maryland the Examiner, of Sept. 23rd, says that the “news of the great battles in Maryland is anything but satisfactory.” It was not pleased that Gen. Lee, after having fought a tremendous battle “at the head of one of the finest armies the world ever saw, occupying one of the strongest positions that could be conceived, chosen at leisure by himself,” should then retreat across the Potomac, when, too, it was reported that Gen. McClellan had also retreated. The Examiner further says there can be no doubt that the Confederate army has been greatly reduced in numbers and is in a “suffering condition—two hundred miles from Richmond, short of supplies, and in a territory, which, if not hostile, is at least cold and averse to our (the rebel) troops.”

Pen and Scissors.

In giving an account of the battle of Antietam, the Richmond Inquirer says that the rebel force amounted to 60,000, and that of McClellan to 150,000. The Inquirer claims “one of the most complete victories that has yet immortalized the Confederate arms.” McClellan was driven from the field, leaving his dead unburied and his wounded in the hands of the victorious rebels. The rebel loss is out at 5,000 in killed, wounded and missing. That is a finely sugar-coated pill.

Southern journals have at last come to the conclusion that only a “respectable minority” of the people of Maryland sympathize with the South.

The interference of Congress with the discipline of the Union army, by denouncing in debate those officers who protected private property, has given rise to a wholesale plundering, almost equal to the “looting” of the British troops in the East Indies. Wearing apparel, family papers, and even Bibles, are taken without hesitation, as displayed as the spoils of war.—N.Y. Com. Adv.

Gen. Butler has revolutionized and re-organized what schools there are in New Orleans; has dismissed the rebel pedagogues, and sent for a cargo of Massachusetts school mistresses to give orthodox instruction to young New Orleans.

A correspondent, speaking of the battle of Antietam, says: “I have been credibly informed that broken railroad iron and blacksmith’s tools, hammers, chisels, &c., were fired at us from rebel cannon. Some of these missiles made a peculiar noise, resembling “which-away, which-away,” by which our men came to distinguish them from regular shot and shell, and as they heard them approaching they would cry “Turkey! Turkey coming!” and fall flat to avoid them. One of our artillerists, a German, when he saw the tools falling around him, exclaimed, “My God! We shall have the blacksmith’s shop to come next!”

The question of substitutes for cotton continues to attract attention in England. The Times publishes another letter from the “inventor” of the article which has already been so much talked about. In it the “inventor” states that a committee was being formed in Manchester for the purpose of carrying out his proposition, and in regard to the material, he says: “I firmly believe that I shall be able to establish, 1. That my substitute will answer all the purposes of cotton; 2. That a present and sufficient supply ca be procured, and the operatives at once set to work; 3. That a future supply of the material may be obtained by cultivation in the United Kingdom without displacing from other purposes one acre of land, and thus be the means of developing a new staple of industry of the country.”

At the great Russian fair of Nishni Novgorod, twenty thousand pounds of cotton, from Khiva and Bokhara, were sold at twelve to thirteen silver roubles per pound, to be shipped for England.

The Richmond Dispatch says that the yellow fever is assuming fearful proportions in Wilmington, N.C., both in its rapid spread and malignity, and the inhabitants of that city are in a most helpless condition, arising from their utter ignorance of the disease and the proper way of nursing the stricken patient. Letters from the plague-stricken city appeal in strong terms for aid.

FRIDAY
OCTOBER 3, 1862
LOWELL DAILY CITIZEN & NEWS (MA)

Letter from the 33d Regiment.

Camp at Alexandria, Va.,
September 29, 1862.

Editor Citizen and News: Camp life, although by no means unpleasant, is yet rather monotonous. Especially is this the case when troops are stationed at any one point for a considerable length of time. A description of one day’s duties from reveille to taps will furnish you with the “news” for a month. In active service and moving from place to place, marching or fighting, it would of course be different, an the news would then be of interest. I propose in this letter to speak of Virginia in general and Alexandria in particular, as far as I have seen them. Form the first moment I set foot on Virginia’s “sacred soil” I felt disappointment. Perhaps I had been led to expect too much, from representations made by those who had visited the “Old Dominion” previous to the debut of the 33d, and almost reported the state as a land “flowing with milk and honey.” No doubt I have seen too little of it myself to form a  fair opinion of its merits and demerits. Be that as it may, I have seen enough to satisfy me that I would by no means exchange glorious old Massachusetts for all Virginia. I have no desire to explore farther, except it be to visit Mount Vernon and the battlefield, as a matter of curiosity, or to make one of a conquering army to enter Richmond.

The people, white or black, their customs and manners, the climate, the soil, all, are to me, and, I doubt not, to a majority of Massachusetts boys, far from prepossessing. This, I repeat, as far as we have yet been able to judge. To a great extent two distinct classes exist among the citizens, viz: F.F.V.s and common whites. These are almost as distinctly separate as white and black. The first, priding themselves upon their blood and wealth, keep aloof from the former classes—to all appearances holding no communication except of a business character. . . The “poor whites,” as they are called, and they number many, live mostly by trade in a small way in the city, or by farming in the outskirts, and marketing. Visiting the market often I have a good opportunity to see and learn of this latter class. The general appearance of themselves and teams betoken what at the North would be called close living. Their speech and accent, and their manner of doing business, show a limited education, and a lack of that energy and thrift everywhere displayed at the North. The blacks that I have seen thus far, slave or free, are apparently happy and contented. Many of those who are free either own or rent patches of ground in the adjacent country and raise fruit, &c., for market. Many are employed and paid wages as servants in the city. A large number work for government in the quartermaster’s department in the city, and another “large number” do nothing from choice, preferring to have support without making any return. Of course these last are contrabands, but in justice to them I would say that those employed by the quartermaster are also contrabands, only that they are rather more intelligent, and are willing to work for a living. I have visited one “contraband” camp in town, comprising some four or five hundred unfortunates or fortunate, as you may please to term them, of all ages, all sizes, and almost all complexions. I was not favorably impressed; although I

am averse to slaver, my olfactories advised me that they wanted a master of some sort to direct their attention forcibly or otherwise towards cleanliness. One characteristic of Virginians is applicable to all, high or low, rich or poor, white or black. I refer to their peculiar accents and their phrases. Everybody “reckons” that the weather is “right” cold, or that a man is “right” smart, and the like. A marketman, when inquired of as to the quality of his wares, will answer, “Wall, I reckon they are right nice.” The accent of the people of all classes is harsh and unpleasant; the r is made to sound wherever it occurs, and real melodious voices are rare. . .

One edifice remains as a monument of the “peculiar institution”—the slave pen, now used as a prison. A sign on the door reads, “Price, Birch & Co., dealers in slaves.” The population at this period is rather promiscuous. Many of the citizens are absent by reason of the war, and many followers of the army. Many straggling soldiers throng the streets, and a strict military rule is necessary to keep such people within bounds. There are very few true Union men here who are residents—and fewer women, but secesh keeps his tongue quiet for fear of summary punishment.

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Some idea of the amount of ammunition required to supply such an army as Gen. McClellan’s, during a heavy fight like that of Wednesday, may be gained from the fact that thirty-eight tons of ammunition were forwarded to Gen. McClellan on Wednesday, from Washington, via Baltimore, Harrisburg, and Hagerstown. An eyewitness of the battle states that he counted at four different times during the day the number of discharges from our artillery, and found that they were made at the rate of 78 to the minute.

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War Matters remain very quiet. The President visited the army on the Upper Potomac on Wednesday, and took a survey of the battle fields, including the ground where our troops surrendered. He slept one night under General McClellan’s canvas.

Since Monday last, accounts from Washington report an almost continuous movement of troops, chiefly infantry and light artillery, over the Long bridge into Virginia. Their destination, beyond that point, is not stated. On Tuesday the fine brigade commanded by General Briggs was among the troops on the march.

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The Appleton Bank is issuing new bills of the denominations of one, two and three dollars, very neat in appearance, and quite handy to have in one’s pocket. The twos bear an excellent likeness of Mr. Knowles, the president.

SATURDAY
OCTOBER 4, 1862
THE SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN (MA)

FOR THE CHILDREN.

One of our Friends.—Who is the friend that comes in at the window oftener than at the door, that hovers round our bed all night and yet is fresher than we are in the morning when we wake? We have never seen his face, and yet we know him very well. His name is air. He is one of our best friends; if we part with him we shall die. We should never shut him out if we can help it. Sometimes when we do he shakes the doors and windows, trying to get in; sometimes he comes down the chimney and blows the smoke in our faces. Sometimes he sobs as if he were unhappy, and the window panes are wet with his tears. This is when he is shut out in rainy weather, but when it is fair again, if you raise the sash, he come sin and kisses you as kindly as ever. He is as fond of play as any of you; in the winter he builds snow forts, and puts white caps on the fence-posts, and balls in the empty bird’s nests, and snow in the traveller’s pockets. He breathes on the drifts, when the spring comes, and melts them away; he dries up the mud, and shakes the dew from the grass, and whispers to the violets that it is time to open their blue eyes. He brings in at the window the song of birds, and the smell of roses and of new mown hay. He helps the school-boy to fly his kite, and keeps his little wind-mill whirling all night when he is asleep. In the autumn he has a great time, shaking the apples and nuts from the trees, and tossing about the red and yellow leaves, and hiding them away where we shall never see them again. He likes the fire as well as we do, and always rushes towards it whenever he gets a chance. If he did not breathe upon it, it would go out. He is all around us, outside; he is within us, in every vein and muscle and nerve. Every drop of blood upon which he has not breathed turns black and poisonous and dead. We should always receive this friend in our houses whenever we can, and go out to meet him very often indeed. There are no strong arms and cheerful hearts those who have him for an intimate friend.

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Jesse and the Snake.—Jesse was a boy, about fifteen years old, who lived with Captain Felt. When he, wit two men, was mowing in the meadow, a huge black snake suddenly stood up in front of the foremost mower. The man, not blessed with an over stock of courage, took to his heels and ran away. The second man did likewise, but Jesse “didn’t know enough to run away from a  snake.” When the two men had gone, his snakeship made for the bold youth, and Jesse cut at him with the scythe, but did not hit him. The snake sprang forward, and seized hold of the boy’s hat in front. By this time Jesse found he had caught a Tartar, but he could not escape without a fight, and he made another sweep with his scythe, and cut the snake in two pieces, near the ground. The head part then ran away, and Jesse cut the other part into three pieces. Measuring the distance from the boy’s hat to the ground, and the tail part of the snake which remained, the “varmint” was found to be eleven feet long. This was before breakfast in the morning, and poor Jesse, pale and exhausted, was unable to eat his morning meal. He was almost as badly “cut up” as the snake, and Captain Felt said he deserved such a medal as was given to the captain of a man-of-war, when he captured a vessel of superior force.—Student and Schoolmate.

The other day, a friend, wishing to teach my little three-year-old Susie the hymn beginning, “I want to be an angel,” told her to repeat the first line, when she looked up, and with animation exclaimed—“No, I don’t; I want to be a soldier”

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GENERAL NEWS SUMMARY.

The emigration to the port of New York for this year, up to this date, shows an increase of nearly 8000 over that for a corresponding period in 1861. This is not much to boast of, but it shows, at least, that the continuance of the war does not entirely kill off emigration.

At a fashionable watering place, recently, a guest was discovered bathing his feet in the spring one morning, which, as the water was used on the hotel tables, caused great indignation among the boarders, and said “guest” got “fits” from the two hundred ladies and gentlemen. One young miss said she guessed that was what gave the water its peculiar “heeling” qualities, but those who did not see it in that light skedaddled.

The yield of wheat in Iowa this year is estimated at 20,000,000, being 1,750,000 more than the crop of 1861. There have been 1,825,000 acres cultivated this season in corn, which will yield 76,250,000 bushels, or an excess over the crop of last year of 10,000,000 tons; sorghum 8,000,000 gallons, and potatoes double last year’s quantity. The state will be able to export this year 175,000 cattle and 900,000 hogs. The increase of sheep has been about one-third during the past year, making the number in the state 850,000.

The smallest watch in the London exhibition is a minute affair, smaller than a pea, set in a ring for a lady’s finger; it goes for six hours, and may be purchased for the pretty little sum of £250.

The colored people of New York had a jubilee meeting, Monday evening, over the president’s proclamation.

The new Turkish minister of finance has found 1,500,000 francs in gold and silver coin secreted in the royal treasury, which, it was supposed, has been secreted upwards of a century. Why can’t our treasurer do something of the sort? It would help the war along wonderfully.

¹ My, what an interesting article. A person was indentured in order to work off a debt; many of our ancestors voluntarily bound themselves to a period (often seven years) of such servitude in order to pay off their passage from the Old World. So what is Mr. Edwards paying off—or, rather, who? This sounds like he is paying Guardians of the Poor, which, in effect, means he purchased little Ms Mitchell. The many delays in the procedure makes it sound as though Guardians was buying time to hide what begins to sound like a business of selling orphans. The fact that Mr. Edwards was black is really moot—unless they hoped that fact might shock the family into dropping the case out of some sense of 19th century shame. This all smacks of a cover-up; we’ll have to see if any later papers include subsequent coverage.

² “Cawnpore massacres” refers to episodes from the 1857 Sepoy Rebellion in India. British forces besieged in Cawnpore (modern Kanpur) surrendered to rebel Indian forces under Nana Sahib in exchange for a guarantee of safe passage to Allahabad, but were attacked and massacred on the road. Those captured were later executed upon the approach of a British relief column. In a related incident, referred to as the Bibighar Massacre, 120 British women and children were hacked to death and dismembered with meat cleavers, and their remains thrown down a well. Following the recapture of Cawnpore and discovery of the massacre, British forces engaged in widespread retaliatory atrocities. These episodes embittered the British army and inspired the war cry of “Remember Cawnpore!”

³ More than double the daily pay in the Federal Navy and Army.

⁴ As per the National Park Service, the actual numbers were (Union) 2,100 killed, 9,550 wounded, and 750 missing/captured; (Confederate) 1,550 killed, 7,750 wounded, and 1,020 missing/captured. Of the wounded “about one in seven died from their wounds.” (www.nps.gov/anti/historyculture/casualties.htm). So how did eyewitnesses count “between three and four thousand dead” on top of the “large number” buried by the rebels? Again, these reports are not presented as “truth,” but as what the folks at home read.