Traitorous and incendiary Legends.
Richmond, April 22.--Yesterday morning the walls of the houses of
Purcell,
Ladd & Co.,
E. B. Spence & Co.,
Binford &
Porter, the
Powhatan House, and other conspicuous establishments about the town, were covered with incendiary and blasphemous writings, a verbatim copy of some of which we give below.
The writing was in a fair, round, and deliberate hand, and all evidently performed by one and the same person — the writing in the various places named being identical in character.
The dirty work must have been begun before the street-lamps were extinguished at twelve o'clock on Saturday night, as it could not possibly have been accomplished in the dark.
We are confirmed in this opinion by the fact that all the writings are in the neighborhood of the lamps.
From the amount of writing, and the size of the letters, grant it to have been performed by one hand, it is computed that it could not have occupied the writer less than an hour, that is, from eleven to twelve o'clock. Where, it is on every hand asked, where, during that dull hour of the watch, were the much vaunted, highly paid (four dollars per diem and perquisites) detectives?
Where was Rossvally?
Where was Rob
Crow?
That the writer was an indifferent poet and an illiterate and blasphemous man, there can be but one opinion among those who scan
the writing on the walls.
On
Purcell,
Ladd & Co.'s east wall:
[
22]
“On
Yorktown's walls the cry is “still they come.””
“Change your bells into cannon, and charge with confederate 5‘s.”
“ Southern Lexicon covered with glory: ‘ Pinks of chivalry.’
”
“ The
Lord is on our side, but, in consequence of pressing engagements elsewhere, could not attend at
Pea Ridge,
Donelson, etc., etc.”
“ He will also be prevented from visiting the chosen ‘pinks’ at
Yorktown.”
Southern hearts are beating low;
Manassas boasters shun the foe;
Stars and Stripes shall wave again;
Northerners tread this ebon main.
On
E. B. Spence & Co.'s west wall:
Something new under the sun, to wit: ‘Petticoat Gunboats.’
“Nationals! unfurl your banners over
Yorktown walls.”
On the
Powhatan House south wall:
Southern boasters grasp the dust,
In the Lord you vainly trust,
For the Lord you fain would cheat
With halcyon lips and Pluto's feet.
“The cry is ‘ still they come.’
”
Also a copy of the apparently favorite lines:
Southern hearts are beating low.
On
Binford &
Porter's west wall:
On Yorktown Heights the cry is ‘ still they come.’
“Change your bells into cannon, and charge with confe---,” here the midnight scribe appears to have been interrupted in his work, most probably by the watchman on his way to extinguish the lamps at the corner.
At an early hour of the day all these ribald inscriptions, except those on the house of
Purcell,
Ladd & Co.,and
E. B. Spence & Co., were effaced by the proprietors of the different houses.
Those of the latter places, owing no doubt to the fact that the owners of the two houses resided at a distance from them, were permitted to remain, and until nightfall proved a great attraction to Sunday loungers.
Many bitter imprecations were vented against the unknown perpetrator of the scurrilous performance.--
Richmond Examiner.
the
Lowell, Mass., people, when the news of the
Banks's retreat came along, were so excited that they rang the (church) alarm bells.
The fright could scarcely have been greater, if “
Stonewall Jackson” had turned up on Boston Common.--
N. Y. Mercury.
the rebels arming their slaves.--The Nashville
Union of the twenty-fourth of May, quotes from the
Atlanta, Ga.,
Intelligencer and Confederacy the following passage, urging upon the rebel commanders the necessity of arming the slaves:
We must ‘ fight the devil with fire,’ by arming our negroes to fight the Yankees.
There is no doubt that in Georgia alone we could pick up ten thousand negroes that would rejoice in meeting fifteen thousand Yankees in deadly conflict.
We would be willing almost to risk the fate of the South upon such an encounter in an open field.
an incident of the battle of the forts.--
Capt. Boggs, of the
Varuna, tells a story of a brave boy who was on board his vessel during the bombardment of the forts on the
Mississippi River.
The lad, who answers to the name of Oscar, is but thirteen years of age, but he has an old head on his shoulders, and is alert and energetic.
During the hottest of the fire he was busily engaged in passing ammunition to the gunners, and narrowly escaped death when one of the terrific broadsides of the
Varuna's rebel antagonist was poured in. Covered with dirt and begrimed with powder, he was met by
Captain Boggs, who asked “where he was going in such a hurry?”
“To get a passing-box, sir; the other one was smashed by a ball!”
And so, throughout the fight, the brave lad held his place and did his duty.
When the
Varuna went down
Captain Boggs missed his boy, and thought he was among the victims of the battle.
But a few minutes afterwards he saw the lad gallantly swimming towards the wreck.
Clambering on board of
Captain Boggs's boat, he threw his hand up to his forehead, giving the usual salute, and uttering only the words, “All right, sir!
I report myself on board,” passed coolly to his station.
So young a lad, so brave and cool in danger will make himself known as years go over his head.
