NEWS: The Alleghanian; 10 Nov 1864; Ebensburg, Cambria Cnty., PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Patty Millich Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cambria/ _________________________________________ The Alleghanian Ebensburg, Pa. Thursday, 10 Nov 1864 Volume 6, Number 7 Etchings Sergt. George W. Brown, of Co. A, 11th Pa. Reserves, who was wounded in one of the Wilderness battles, in May last, and has been an inmate of a hospital ever since, has received an honorable discharge from the service and is now at home. He is still quite lame from the effects of his wound which is in the hip, but hopes are entertained that in the course of time he may fully recover the use of his limb and be "good as new" again. We bid him welcome back! Mr. James S. Todd, former editor of the Ebensburg DEM. & SENT., proposes establishing a Democratic paper in Altoona to be called THE AGE. The first number, the published prospectus announces, will be issued January 5, 1865. The enterprise ought to pay. In Blair county, Martin L. Bechtel, independent, is elected Sheriff by 399 majority over Robison, the regular Union nominee. Bechtel is a crippled soldier and was supported by men of both parties. From Our Soldiers Letter from Co. C, 209th P.V. Bermuda Hundred, Oct. 26, '64 I again put my pen to paper for the edification of your readers though under protest that there is an absolute dearth of news of any kind whatsoever wherewith to interest seekers after "something to read." October is nearly gone yet at times the warbling of birds will strike the ear in a strange contrast with the heavy booming of the batteries along the river. For be it known that though the folly of treason has made much of Virginia a desert waste, yet now and then a little songster, perched on branch or bush will send forth his joyous notes as if anxious to remind all of other and more peaceful days. And even at this moment, as I look out upon the clear still air and into the woods beyond and hear no sound nor see no sign of contending armies, it is almost impossible to realize that all this appearance is deception and that at any moment the storm of battle may burst forth with intensest (sic) fury. The health of the regiment is extraordinarily good. Not a single death has yet occurred. In some of the companies a good many are sick with the chills and fever. Co. C has the smallest number of sick of any company in the battalion and has not had even a single case of chills and fever. In the muster roll published in a late number of your paper, there is a failure to mark James Yinger of Cambria county a deserter. Also for M'Ginley J. Appleby it reads M'Ginley J. Adams. There is also an omission of the name of Uriah Wagner. [Signed] Gamma From Our Soldiers Another Letter from Co. C, 209th P. V. Bermuda Hundred, Oct. 31 '64 Since my last, movements have taken place in the department of which you have been fully advised. We, though hearing the sound of the guns on both flanks, still remain in ignorance as to the result. Rumors of disaster and rumors of triumph have abounded on every hand, but news of a trustworthy character, it is impossible to obtain. At one time, Butler has secured a position within two miles of Richmond and at another, he has been driven four miles to the rear of his old one, and suffered the loss of the whole of the 10th corps as prisoners. Again, Grant has captured six miles of the south side railroad and anon has been repulsed with a loss of ten thousand prisoners. Were it not that Butler's previous movement, though successful, was followed by the same scarcity of information and rumors of defeat, one would be forced to conclude that the present indications were signs only of evil. [The result of the movement concerning which our correspondent speculates as above was a success to our arms. Through some of his peculiar strategy, Grant advanced his lines three miles and gained a position from which at any moment, he can fall upon the Southside railroad, so essential to the possession of Petersburg and render its use to the enemy extremely perilous and uncertain. – Ed.] On Thursday of the past week, the same day as that on which the movements on our flanks took place, we were formed on the right of our line for the purpose of assaulting or supporting an assault on the rebel position in order to learn the force stationed opposite us. The assault, however, was not attempted, owing to misapprehension of orders and a consequent bungling of the whole affair. We remained at the fortifications till midnight in a steady rain, to be prepared against a rebel assault which the Johnnies had doubtless no notion of making. This also was through either a misunderstanding of orders or a failure to deliver them. But had we not been uselessly in the rain we might not have been able to properly appreciate how good a thing it is to be out of it! Next Tuesday will be election day and let me give your readers the assurance that on that day, Co. C will give the Union electors at least fifty–five votes. The pickets on the rebel line cheer for M'Clellan. Today we were mustered for pay and of the seventy-two enlisted in the company, all but three were reported for duty. Of these three, two are sick in hospital and one in quarters and not one dangerously. But one death has up to this time occurred in the regiment. [Signed] Gamma Appointments Lieut. Edward R. Dunnegan, the newly elected County Commissioner, was sworn in and entered upon the duties of his office on Monday week. Mr. Peter J. Little is the retiring member of the board. The following appointments of the ensuing year were made by the new board: Wm. H. Sechler of Ebensburg reappointed Clerk; Mr. John Cox of Johnstown appointed Mercantile Appraiser. War in Clearfield County The numerous threats which have been made to resist the draft in Clearfield county culminated on Monday 30th ult., in the shooting of Col. Butler, Deputy Provost Marshal, while in the discharge of his duty in the arrest of a deserter. A great many persons in that region known as copperheads are armed and equipped and organized in squads to resist every effort of the authorities to gather in the drafted men. Colonel Butler was killed instantly. His murderer's name is Lounsberry who is still at large. The Colonel was a most exemplary and unassuming man and was loved and respected wherever he was known. Retaliation for his murder will be visited upon those who caused it. The military authorities have sent seven hundred troops to Clearfield, who will immediately arrest all who have in any manner been concerned in this outrage. Maryland Free! The following is the conclusion of Governor Bradford's proclamation declaring the adoption of the new Maryland constitution by the voice of the people: And whereas, The results of the said elections have been duly certified to me by the proper judges of the said several elections, and upon accurately counting and casting up the votes so returned to me for and against the said Constitution, including the soldiers' vote aforesaid, it does appear that there were 30,174 ballots for the Constitution and 29,799 ballots against the Constitution and that there were 61 blank ballots reported as given against the Constitution, but not counted – the persons offering them refusing to take the oath required by the said Constitution – and there being, therefore, of the aggregate vote so cast, a majority in favor of the adoption of the said Constitution. Now, therefore, I, Augustus W. Bradford, Governor of the State of Maryland, in pursuance of the authority so vested in me by the said Act of Assembly and the Constitution aforesaid, do, by this my proclamation, declare and make known that the said Constitution and form of government so framed and adopted by the convention aforesaid has been adopted by a majority of the voters of the State, and that in pursuance of the provision therein contained, the same will go into effect as the proper Constitution and form of government of the State, superseding the one now existing, on the first day of November 1864. The New State of Nevada The territory of Nevada, which has just been admitted to the Union as a State by President Lincoln, was organized in March, 1861. For this purpose about ten thousand square miles were appropriated from the northern extremity of California and about seventy thousand from western Utah. At the time of its organization the Territory possessed a population of nearly seven thousand white settlers. The development of her mineral resources was rapid and almost without parallel and attracted a constant stream of immigration to the Territory. As the population has not been subject to the fluctuations from which other territories have suffered, the growth of Nevada has been rapid and steady. At the general convention election of 1863, nearly eleven thousand votes were cast. During the present year great accessions to the population have been made. Nevada is probably the richest State in the Union in respect to mineral resources. No region in the world is richer in argentiferous leads. These leads are found scattered over the entire Washoe county, the richest east of which is known as the Comstock lead, of Virginia City. The localities of the other principal mines in the region east of the Sierra Nevada are the Emerald Mines, one hundred miles southeast of Virginia; the Humboldt, one hundred and sixty miles northeast; the Silver mountain, sixty miles south; Peavine, thirty miles north and the Reese river country, one hundred and seventy miles east northeast, embracing many districts and flanked by two of more than ordinary promise – the Cortez, seventy miles north and the San Antonio, one hundred miles south of Austin, now the principal town on the Reese river. A few months ago another deposit of mineral wealth was brought to light which has proved of incalculable value to the silver miners. This was an immense basin of salt, five miles square, near the sink of the Carson river. This basin, says a gentleman who writes from Virginia City, appears once to have been the bottom of a lake and the salt is found good even on the surface. A covering of about three inches is loose and indifferent, but below this, for a depth of fourteen feet, pure rock salt is found, as clear as ice and white "as the driven snow." Beneath there is water, which seems to be filtered through salt for an unknown depth. The whole of the fourteen feet in thickness does not contain a single streak of any deleterious matter or rubbish and is ready for quarrying and sending to market. The locality is one hundred miles west of Reese river and seventy miles east of Virginia City on the overland road. In January of this year, there were one hundred and twenty-five quartz mills in operation in Nevada which were created at a cost ranging from $10,000 to $100,000. About three-fourths of the quartz mills of Nevada are driven by steam and the balance by water power. Of the entire number, four-fifths are in the vicinity of Virginia. There is an average of one hundred mills in constant operation. This will carry, on an average, ten stamps each, making one thousand with a capacity for crushing one thousand tons per day. This ore will yield at the rate of $50 per ton, giving a daily production of $50,000 or $150,000,000 per annum. War News The question of the return of Georgia to the Union is being widely agitated in that State. Meetings were held among the loyal men of Atlanta which resulted in the appointment of a committee to proceed to the capital of the State and visit influential men, with a view to counsel the withdrawal of the State from the Confederacy. Arrangements are being made to furnish soldiers in the Army of the Potomac and sailors on blockade with a dinner on Thanksgiving day. Contributions in money and poultry are pouring in rapidly. The immigration last year into this country amounted to six thousand persons. Both Irish and English show an increasing disposition to visit America. Sherman is again victorious! A brief dispatch from Nashville announces that Hood was defeated on the 3d inst., in attempting to cross the Tennessee river at the mouth of the Blue Water. So the last effort, the grand invasion, which Jeff Davis threatened and Hood undertook has come to nothing. From North Carolina we have the important news, through rebel sources that Plymouth has again been captured by our troops. The possession of this point insures the naval and military possession of Ablemarle Sound and adjacent country.