Colt Armory Fire
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HARPER'S WEEKLY. [FEBRUARY 20, 1864. 126 THE SINGERS.O MERRY sings the nurse by night, Brooding over the fire; And merry sing the sailor-boys When noisy winds blow higher; And red and merry in the blaze Sing the men round the foundry fire. O merry sing the reapers, sunk Chin-deep in the yellow corn; And merry sing the shepherds When the shivering sheep are shorn; And merry sing the millers Watching the flowing corn.
Ay! merry sings the woodmen's gang Where nods the stately tree; And merry sings the pilot By night on the summer sea; And merry sing the fishermen When winter gales blow free.
And merry sing the soldiers In vaulted barrack-room; And merry sing the weavers Over the clattering loom; And merry sing the light-house men Amid the murk and gloom.
But merriest far is my Lucy's song To the infant at her breast, Watching, with those Madonna eyes, Our dear one hushed to rest, What time the red light fades along The bright line of the west.
ARMY AND NAVY ITEMS.THE blockade of the Narrows has been resumed. The Naugatuck is stationed off Throgg's Neck for the examination of Sound vessels; and the Miami and Tiger cruise along the North River, as far as the Narrows and Sandy Hook. One hundred deserters have arrived at the Park Barracks, from Alexandria, Virginia. The "Mosquito Fleet" will soon be ready to depart from this port for New Orleans. It consists of a number of little steamers, some of them iron-clad, and of light draft, to cruise in the lagoons and rivers of the Mississippi inaccessible to large ships. Major-General McCLERNAND left Springfield, Illinois, for New Orleans on the 2d instant. Army mules are going to GRANT'S department in large numbers. They are to be used as pack mules for supply trains, for East Tennessee, as the roads are impassable for wagon trains, A young lady from Pennsylvania enlisted at Oswego, in this State, a few days since. Her sex was discovered by a fellow-soldier, who gave information to the authorities, and she was arrested and placed in confinement. She is "only sixteen years of age, pretty, intelligent, and modest." Owing to the failure of a previous contractor, the Navy Department has taken precautions to have the work of raising the sunken vessels at Norfolk and vicinity faithfully performed. The wrecks are the Cumberland, Congress, Merrimac, Raritan, the Columbia, the small steamer Whitehall, and the line-of-battle ships Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Columbus. The chief of the military detective force of Washington reports that, during the month of January, sixty-two commissioned officers were arrested for various offenses, and six hundred and twenty enlisted men. The steamer D. G. Taylor, which contained forty thousand dollars' worth of commissary stores for our troops at Nashville, was totally destroyed by fire at Louisville, Kentucky, a few days ago. The Provost Marshal of Iowa has telegraphed to the President that the State will fill its quota by volunteers, rendering a draft there unnecessary. At a special meeting of the Senate Military Committee to consider the House bill conferring the rank of Lieutenant-General on General GRANT it was decided to report the bill without amendment. It is understood that some opposition will be made to it when it comes before the Senate. The reports that General THOMAS is to succeed General MEADE in command of the Army of the Potomac are probably without any foundation. Mr. FENTON'S bill, to facilitate and hurry the payment of bounties and arrears of pay to the heirs of deceased soldiers, now only awaits the action of the Senate to become a law. Admiral DU PONT has been summoned before the Committee on the Conduct of the War for the purpose of obtaining his opinion as to the best ordnance for the naval service. The following Generals were in Louisville last week: Major-Generals GRANT, ROSECRANS, HUNTER, CADWALLADER, STONEMAN, SCHOFIELD, CRITTENDEN, and McCOOK; Brigadier-Generals WADSWORTH, ALLEN, CATTLAIN, THOMAS, and BURBRIDGE; and Rear-Admiral PORTER. Major-General HANCOCK is in New York, bearing a commission to recruit his corps to the number of fifty thousand men. There is great activity at the Charlestown (Massachusetts) Navy-yard in fitting out vessels for Fort Monroe. Illinois having, under every call, exceeded her quota, was not, on the 1st of January or at any other time, subject to a draft. In the case of the Chesapeake, the Judge of the Admiralty Court, at Halifax, Nova Scotia, has decided to restore the vessel and cargo to her owners. Major-General BLUNT left Washington for General CURTIS'S Department last week. He is to have command of the district of the Indian Territory, with his head-quarters at Fort Smith. Admiral LEE, commanding the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, advises the Secretary of the Navy of the destruction of the notorious blockade-runner Wild Dayrell at New Topsail Inlet, where she was ashore and discharging her cargo. Since the advent of General STEELE Arkansas has furnished more volunteers for the Union army than any equal number elsewhere. Counties where JEFF DAVIS'S conscript officers could not find a score of men, have since sent full companies to the Union army. General HOBSON has been temporarily put in command of the forces in Kentucky, General AMMON having been placed on the Court-Martial at Cincinnati. A Washington correspondent states that Gen. HALLECK has announced his intention of resigning, if the House Bill, making GRANT Lieutenant-General passes the Senate. The ship Contest, owned by A. A. LOW BROS., of New York, was burned by the Alabama, on the 11th of November. Captain IVES, of the Tenth Massachusetts, and Captain READ, of the Third Ohio Volunteers, are to be ironed and sent to Salisbury, and put to hard labor, in retaliation for the similar treatment of two captains captured by Burnside, and now at Johnson's Island. The Thirtieth Maine regiment, 1000 strong, have embarked from Portland for New Orleans. STEELE'S cavalry advance occupy Benton, 60 miles south of Little Rock, Arkansas. FORT FISHER, N. C.AN English artist in the South writes as follows concerning the accompanying illustration: "Herewith I send you a sketch of Fort Fisher, commanding the approach to Cape Fear River, the entrance to Wilmington, North Carolina. I was down there one night, and, as it is twenty-five miles from the town, it was impossible to get back that night, so I had to rough it in a casemate till morning. As luck would have it, we discovered a blockade-running steamer, the Hansa, under our guns at dawn, and at the same time the Yankee blockaders also became aware of her presence and opened fire, thinking, as she had already got inside the bar (the line of white breakers just seaward of her), they would destroy her before she made the inlet. To get within range they had to expose themselves to the metal of the fort, which soon drove them off; leaving the Hansa at liberty to make her way safely into the river. The distant point of land is Cape Fear. Fort Fisher is one of the strongest coast defenses I have seen, not excepting any of those at Charleston, that have hitherto held an entire iron-clad fleet at bay." THE FIRE IN COLT'S ARMORY.WE publish on page 125 an illustration, from a sketch by Mr. J. B. Russell, Jun., of the late extensive fire at Colt's Armory, Hartford. The buildings destroyed were the front main building, 500 feet long by 60 feet wide, and three stories in height; the wing of the same width and height, and 60 feet long; and the office, two and a half stories high. The main building contained the most expensive gun and pistol machinery, and employed eight hundred workmen. Nearly every thing movable was saved, including several thousand dollars' worth of stock, and pistols packed for shipment. The fire originated in the attic, from what cause is unknown, but was first discovered in the centre wing connecting the old with the new Armory. The firemen were successful in preventing the fire from reaching the new Armory, thus saving the Government rifles, which are made in that building. The Armory burned was built by Mr. Colt in 1859 of Portland stone, slate roof, and was said to be fire-proof. The new Armory, which is built of brick, was added two years ago to meet the extensive demand for rifles after the breaking out of the war. The entire loss from the fire is estimated at about $1,000,000. Colonel Colt never had the buildings insured, but upon his death Mr. E. K. Root, then elected President of the Company, obtained insurance on the entire Armory to the amount of $660,000. This fire is a serious loss to Hartford, and especially as it throws out of work between one and two thousand mechanics and workmen. It will take the Company two years to rebuild and put their establishment on its former footing. ADVERTISEMENTS.MORTON'S GOLD PENS are now sold at the same prices as before the commencement of the war; this is entirely owing to the Manufacturer's improvements in machinery, his present large Retail Business and Cash-in-Advance System; for, until he commenced advertising, his business was done on Credit and strictly with the Trade. The Morton Gold Pens are the only ones sold at old prices, as the makers of all other gold pens charge the Premium on the Gold, Government Tax, &c.; but Morton has in no case changed his prices, Wholesale or Retail. Of the great numbers sent by mail to all parts of the world during the past few years, not one in a thousand has failed to reach its destination in safety; showing that the Morton Gold Pen can be obtained by any one, in every part of the world, at the same price, postage only excepted. Reader, you can have an enduring, always ready, and reliable Gold Pen, exactly adapted to your hand and style of writing, which will do your writing vastly cheaper than Steel Pens; and at the present almost universal High-Pressure Price of everything, you can have a Morton Gold Pen cheaper, in proportion to the labor spent upon it and material used, than any other Gold Pen in the World. If you want one, see "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword," in next column. THE "RIDGEWOOD" PATENTSMOKING CASE.Major-General Burnside writes, Jan. 29th, 1864, after thanks for what he is pleased to call our "useful and beautiful present" of a "Ridgewood Pipe and Tobacco Case." "It is the most complete thing for a Smoking Apparatus that I have ever seen, and so entirely within the reach of the Soldier in price, that it will certainly work itself into general use." Compact and portable as a Cigar Case, it is offered in various styles at $1.50, $2.00, $2.25, $2.50, $3.00, $3.75, and $5.00, the two latter richly plated and engraved. Single Cases sent by mail free to the Army, and everywhere, on receipt of price and 25 cents. A liberal Discount to Dealers and Sutlers. Also the RIDGEWOOD SMOKING TOBACCO, of superior quality and flavor, put up in Packages to fill the Case, and in various sizes for the General Tracts. All Orders promptly filled. OFFICE RIDGEWOOD MANUFACTURING CO., 429 Broadway, cor. Howard Street, New York. 500 Wonders of the World.Whiskers and Moustaches, Gold and Silver-Love Courtship, &c., the Hunter's Secret, Angler's Secret, and a host of other Secrets for making money worth a fortune to any one, all sent free for 25 cts. Also Agents wanted. Address J. W. STEPHENS, Morristown, N. J. New Catalogue of Jewelry Sent free. Address THOS. CAFFERTY & CO., Providence, R. I.
"THE
PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE
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