From the South.
The
Charleston papers say that with regard to
Fort Sumter, ‘"the end is approaching."’ The delay of the Administration is about to be concluded by the
Confederate States.
The Mercury, of Friday, says:
‘
"When it became generally known yesterday morning that the companies now on duty at
Sullivan's Island had been ordered to fill up their ranks without delay, and that the reserves belonging to the several corps were to join their comrades already on duty by the four o'clock boat, people began to speculate as to what was going to happen next.
The public curiosity grew more general upon the arrival of two of the officers of
Major Anderson's command--
Lieuts. Talbot and
Snyder--with a flag of truce.
They were received by the
Governor and
General Beauregard.
Lient.
Talbot having been appointed by the
Government at
Washington as
Assistant Adjutant General for the
District of Oregen, with orders to repair to that station at once, desired permission to leave the city to report himself at
Washington.
Leave was of course readily granted to him, with the understanding that no officer was to be permitted to join the garrison of
Fort Sumter to supply his place; and, accompanied to the depot by
Col. Moses, aid to the
Governor, he left
Charleston by the two o'clock train of the N. E. Railroad.
Meantime,
Lieut. Snyder had mentioned the facts of the firing into the unknown schooner (as described in our issue of yesterday,) and informed the
Governor that the vessel in question was a Boston schooner, loaded with ice, and bound for
Savannah, and that she had put into this harbor on account of stress of weather.
He further said that one of the shots had passed through the schooner's sail.
Lieut. Snyder then returned to the wharf in company with an aid, and went back to the fort.--During his interview with the
Governor, the soldiers who manned the boat had seized the opportunity to lay in some coveted individual supplies of whiskey, tobacco, eatables, and a host of other provisions, making in all no less than thirty-five packages.
The police, howover, had kept a bright eye upon the soldiers, and when the provisioning was complete, they quietly seized all the packages and transferred them to the guard-house.
’
During the whole of yesterday afternoon all kinds of rumors were rife on the streets.
A vague impression had somehow got abroad that the long agony of suspense and inaction was to be speedily and abruptly ended; but how, or when, or by whose orders, nobody could tell.
We have made diligent inquiry; and, in the absence of official information, which, in a juncture like this, is seldom made public,) we deem the following facts to be reasonably certain:
‘
First.
That the supplies of provisions and the mails, hitherto furnished regularly to the garrison of
Fort Sumter, are to be cut off to-day, and that no further communication will be allowed between
Major Anderson and the
Government at
Washington.
Second.
That the troops at all the
State fortifications are now finally disposed, equipped and provided for, so as to be ready for action at a moment's warning.
Third.
That no attack of any kind will be made upon
Fort Sumter until further orders, unless such an attack should be provoked by
Major Anderson, or by an attempt on the part of his Government to bring aid to the beleagued fortress.
Fourth.
That these measures are taken at the instance of the
Government of the
Confederate States, which has lost all confidence in the professions of the
Lincoln Administration.
We have said that this information has no official sanction; but we have not given it without sifting thoroughly all the conflicting reports prevalent last night, and we think it can be relied on as affording a fair outline of the new policy to be pursued henceforth with regard to the ‘"saucy seventy."’
’
The Courier adds:
‘
We learn that six men who, on Thursday, brought the officers from
Fort Sumter to
Adger's wharf, were laborers.
They state that there are in all thirty laborers at
Fort Sumter, who are looking with anxious expectation for an opportunity to leave the fort.
They also state there are seventy-two soldiers in the fort, most of them Irishmen and married men. Some of them have their families in this city.
Nearly all the garrison are extremely anxious to avoid a hostile engagement.
From the best informed quarters, we have reason to believe that, in a few days, leave of absence will be granted for an indefinite period to the entire command.
’
