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[for the Dispatch.]
Messrs. Editors:--Permit me to express my full concurrence in opinion with your correspondent, ‘"Tar Bucket,"’ us to the merits of the Steam-Gun, (the invention of Dickinson,) and of the great impolicy of its rejection by the Confederate Government. The dreadfully destructive powers of this gun, as well as the simplicity of the contrivance — the almost illimitable force of its motive power, and the ease as well as accuracy with which its mighty power as a projectile can be directed, have all been fully tested by actual experiment in presence of the corporate authorities of Baltimore, where it was constructed, and it was at once and eagerly adopted, and the requisite amount for its equipment voted from the city treasury.--It was to have been used for the defence of the city, and to repel and prevent the passage of the Northern troops through Baltimore, but the sudden change of programme which was forced upon unhappy Baltimore by the crushing despotism of the Federal power at Washington prevented its use, and it was in an effort by Mr. Dickinson, its owner and inventor, to transport the gun to Harper's Ferry, for its use by our Virginia army, that was seized by the redoubtable Butler. It was the aid and assistance in this affair which Ross Winans extended to Dickinson that led to the arrest, by Butler, at the Relay House, of that sterling patriot and friend of the South. The mode of operating and equipping this gun for service being known only to its inventor, Butler's conquest has been wholly useless to the U. S. Government. It is known that he made the most liberal and tempting offers to Mr. Dickinson to join their cause and render this gun available to them; but being a true friend to the South, and too honest to be bought by the Yankees at any price, Dickinson persistently refused and came to Richmond, and now offers to cast another and better gun than that that fell into Butler's hands, at the Tredegar works, and have it ready for service in six weeks, if the authorities will give him authority to do so. The writer does not hesitate to say it will be a great blunder on the part of the powers that be if they decline his proposition, which, if a failure ensue, can only involve the loss of a few hundred dollars, whilst if successful, it will prove a more effectual peace-maker and better champion of Southern rights than all the diplomatists and small politicians in the land I do not know what a board of scientific officers may say about this gun. It is very certain that sensible, practical men, who are good judges, and have seen it work, are warm and decided in opinion that it is a great success, and that one of these guns is more effective than one thousand men, however armed. The opinions of scientific men have almost always been found against all new discoveries. Witness Galileo, Fulton, &c. Progress. Charlottesville, July 2, 1861.
The Daily Dispatch: July 5, 1861. Richmond Dispatch. 4 pages. by Cowardin & Hammersley. Richmond. July 5, 1861. microfilm. Ann Arbor, Mi : Proquest. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm.
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