The Virginia gazette — Williamsburg, Va., 1776-01-12 00:00:00, page 1

]ANUARY 12, 1776. NUMBER 50.
VIRGINIAsi
ALW" "" L 1 3 E R T Y- l ct *4ctsiF?-zsi.sl,siss si , : Am: ruz'PUBLtcx GOOD.
r'si - - - :
ALEXANDER PURDIE, PRINTER.
Mr. Punmn,
S your paper it more generally read than
the other:, your publi/lzing the wcttlzin
ruch/B will more generady dj/{ribute it, It
{: jeremiah Bro'wu's method, but not in his
si-wordr. His method, it is true, hzu been
several times published ; but ! [maw many
pea le, who have not ]Z-cn it, that are
de/zrau: of trying it, and who are now
determined to fit izfflantb- to work.
Pleajb to publish, with the affection;, the
hint; enclo/Ed with them. .
[am vour [amble servants
A CUSTOA'IER.
'AFTER having procured the earth
proper M making" saltpetre (the
sweepings of tobacco houses is the be!}:
for that purpose) prepare some hoppers
fitsi for drawing off ch, into the bottoms
of which put some straw ; then lightly put
in the earth, upon which Pour as much
water as you think will produce a stron
silye. The first running will be thick anfi
mudd , which must be poured back till it
runs c ear. .Boil the lye thus procured,
till, by pouring a little upon a burning
coal, it will sparkle and burn like saltpetre,
'or till you find, by fi'equently exposing
a little of it to the cold air, it begins to
shoot; then pour it into earthen or wooden
'vesi'eh, to shoot. After it has shot, pour
off .the liquid from the sheen, and put a
little water to the liquid ; and boil it
hgain, proceeding in the same manner as
above directed, and repeating it till you
find no more saitpetre can be procured.
Then, to purify the saitpetre thus procured ,
put the shoots into an iron pot, without
any water, and set it over a hot fire. It
must be frequently stirred, to pre.*-_-nt its
:bm-ning at the bottom of the pot. After
'some time, it will melt. Suffer it to boil
till it begins to look osa light ash colour;
then pour it out upon asi clean brit—k or
stone floor, to cool._ This mother of
Faltpctre, tis [. B. calls it, must be put
into an iron pot, with some watch After
it is thoroughly melted, let it boil a little;
then vour it'ofl', and all the muddy parts
will i-mmediately settlc at the bottom;
Pour ossthe clearliquor; boil it a little, and
set it to shoot, When it has shet, pour
off lhess li uor; boil it, and set it to
'shoot aga n, which process repent till
no more saltpetre can be got. The
saltpetrc may be well dried by [mtting it
in a bushel, with a coarse cloth at the
'bottom, and' exposing it to the sun and
'air. ]? the salgpetre is not pure enough,
dissolvc it in water ; ameoil it over again,
proceeding as above directed.
D'lvide a tubacco house 'into three
equal parts; dig up one part three or
"four inches deep; rakc up another about
half'an inch deep, pulverisingit very fine;
sweep the third part cl'can us all the long
trnsh, and two or three days after take
the light" fine sweepings qf'this part, and
extract the nine ; take the earth from the
two other parts, and go through the shmc
process with it till you have extracted all
the nitrc it contains ; compare the propor
tion pruduch from each part ; the whole
earth having been worked up, try whether
any more nin'c may be collected from the
earth under it ; endeavour by this method
to determine whether it is better to dig
up floors, or only to sweep them. it is
supposed, that is a ]ye drawn from lime,
ashes, and tobacco, were sprinkled over
the bcds of earth, or over the floor, it
would very much increase the quantity of
nitrc; and such & lye poured on the
earth in the lyc tubs will facilitate the
process .
1. 0 vN D o N, Sept. 23.
T is the sixed resolution of the cahinct
to c:m*y_on the war against America
with the utmost vigour, and tohegin their
next campaign as early us poflilzlc in the
spring. The outlines as the plain to be
pursued are, an army of '18,ooo men to
bcempluyed in New England, and another
prmy of 12,ooo men are to act in Virginia
mid the middle provinces. Two fleets
ctare to cp-operate with these armies, (me
commanded by admiral Shuldham (vice
Greaves) and the pthcr by acimira] Byroh.
Some people, of a carping disposition,
and rigid ccouomy, scruple not to assert,
that parliament'hath done very wrong in
unseasonably increasing the national debt
two or three millions,, by shutting up the
port osBostoh ', whereas, say they; if they
had posiessed :: little patience, gencrals
Decemher or janunry would have shut it
up, without one farthing expcnsc to the
nation, which wcmid have answered all
their purposes much better, have been
more consiitutionai, and given greater
shtissaction to the People, as both those
gentlemen ,are natives of Anterica, old
experienced officers, have served in many
a hard campaign, and are perscctiy ac
quainted with the ssclinfltte and the consti
tution Us the people. _
Notwithstzmding lord North may think
the Americans are in a poor situntion, yet
we can assure his lordship they are not
poor in snifit.
4 Several contrnctcrs have sct oft for
Rome, for :: lctrelh supply of jesuits bark;
for as ten does not agree with an Anteri
czm stalnach, being apt to prodoee the
heart-burn, there is a tatkthe new pzttsiha—ct
cspccisidly us doctor Bttte rcwmmfie it
ment intends to force the bark upon t tem,
as a great specisnck for the scvcr' uffc 1'071 ;
for which, no doubt, the Amer'wsms will
have gratitude enough to thank the doctor,
by heartily wishing he may very soon ex
perience the quiutesscnce Us the axe, the
halter, or the ])rup of glm-fiints. .
just published, and may be had of
'Fohius Qpicksight, at the sign of the
Three E es & Spectacles near the Temple
ssin Hea street, London, (! neu- _/I.-t of
dredrrzs, by ]ohn Bunyan, jun. dreamed
entirely for the Chr'tltmasvcven'lngs enter
tnhtment of the dro'wsy sons of liberty in
ctGreat Britnht .
N. B. To prevent counterfeits, ptease
to inquire for it by the title of, Arva/ac
thou that flcsi'qpc'th .
Theirsuyalmgmpcsifiumc prmecux v. zucs,
and the bidlop ol Oshabrug, were yesterday'
present in the drawing-room ; t} eir dress
was of the Manchcfier manusacturmg,
trimmed with silver. .
Sept. 26. All thoughts of a change in
administssration arc said to be given over;
and it is even said, at the mecting of par
liament, they Will be: supported with a
greater muiofity than in the last scsiion.
A million of money is talked of to be
raised by lottery The ensuipg year.
b'ept. 28. Urders are lent out to ieize
hpnu all the shipping of the rehclhuus co
loniesss, and srigntes have been despatchcd
to the coast nqu'mea to make prize ofall
Americcm vessels found in that latitude, in
order to put a (top to all supplies ofpow
der from that quarter; for, though the
powderuscd in the llave trade he of a very
inferiour kind, and not capable of so much
mischief as that with which our army is
supplied, it still'infixircs the Cromwellictn
desperadocs with some hopes.
An army of 16,ooo Hanoverians, and
20,ooo Russxans, will next summer appear
on the pluins of New England ; to enrich
the fiu'l, it i: to be hoped, with their car
cqffZ-J. 'l'he tl'eatv waits only for the up
probation os parliament, who will do;
heiitate in adopting a measure which will
efi-bctually establish their suprcmacy over
the colonies. _
Fisty ships of War at least will he em—
ployed next year upon the American
[tationz
——-'-—-i-———-———
ST. GEORGE'J (Grcnada) Nov. 4.
N chnesday last, the lsi', instantz a
most dreadful fire happened here;
which ngain laid the greatest part of this
ill-shted town in ashes. lt broke offi about
hidfzm hour after 3 o'cluck'm the morning,
in :1 ncgctro hut behind the house of _]ohn
Knight, ch; on the hill, and it being: then
calm, there was at first some hope ot'get
ting it under; but the wind springing up
and si'eshenlng as the fire increased, it.
rm-pmlsi in sin directions. with such rapi
., ss ,
dit'y, that every endeavour to-extingtsiflt
it was in vain. On the first alarm, his
honour the governour haltened to the"
places in the greatest danger, where,
amidst a scene of horrour and confusion,
he gave his nrd'ers with the utmust cool
ness and precilion, and evm' where ani
-nmted the people by his pretence and ex
ample. As the intcnsc heat made it im
poflihlc to carry the cng'mcs near enousizctsih
the fire to be us any use, he gave directions
to blow up several houses, assictthc only
means ofstopping its progress; but eVery
effort was in vain, for the wind broughcsi
showers oFsparks and flakes from the burn
' ing houses on the: hi'tl, and scattcrcd de
struction on all sides. To the How'mg up ,
ot'thnsc houses, however, that part ofthc
town from mr. Bcnnet's stnne- house to
the end of the bay, as Well as the Cure
nuge, ()ch their preservat'mn; the wzflls
of mr. Lumohc's house did asso greatly
contribute to saving of the latter. 'l'llG_