The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-09-10


beyond them, tower the Green Mountains,
stretching from North to South as far as the
eye can reach, and on the west the Adiron'
| dack, Bald Face, and the northern spur Oh
the Catskills, limit the horizon. Within TWO
miles of Cumberland Head is Crab Isianu,
with an American battery of single gun anu
within another mile farther south Is f"i0oet
Island, the scene of desperate oe.s"oo
Arnold before he became traitor
has looked upon the scenery of the northern
ilakes will oo,soss that n more beautiful spot
does not exist. than that which fate pointed
-. 49, s.o,,, for the Battle of Lake
Champlain.
TIL hottie 60 far as the large vessels were
concerned was fought ut anchor Inc gar
levs and gun boats only were IN motion. Inc
,-,,or;can squadron, under Com. McDonough,
consisted of brig of 20 guns, l ship of 20
orns q schooner of Il guns, sloop OF
Guns. and 10 galleys, or gun-boats. The men
numbered about $50, officers included The
force of Commodore Downie amounted to
II vessels, carrying s6 guns and 1000 men.
We cannot enter upon the details of the ac-
ton. But after IA hours the whole British
squadron had surrendered, and not flag
bearing the red cross of England foated upon
our northern waters. 1t is said that this ac-
ton was more fiercely contested than any one
during the last war with Great Britain.
Scarcely g man engaged escaped without
some injury, and it appears to have been
agreed on both sides to call no man wounded
who could keep out of the hospital. Com.
Downie was killed in the action, and was
buried in the cemetery at Pittsburgh. His
sister came from England year or tive after
wards, and erected suitable monument to
his memory. Several other gallant British
officers fell at the same time, and were buried
near their commander. In 1889 the Off
GERS of the LIST Regiment United States Artil-
lery, while stationed at Plattsburgh, after
their return from Florida, procured monu-
ments for these brave freemen, and had the
ground beneath which they sleep graded and
beautifed Downie and his fellow officers
all sleep near each other beneath the shadow
of a tall pine close to the gateway of the ce-
metery. The gallant McDonough died of
consumption at Middletown, Ct, in 1925.
HENRY NJ PAINE is in the market
again. Our readers will remember that he
proposed snuffing out the sun, two or three
years ago, and substituting a certain kind of
gas produced from water by means Of cleo
| tricity. Of course Paine had to back out,
and Sol triumphed. The thing was duly
chronicled in all the papers at the time; the
| pigs in Cincinnati held a jubilee, and cooked
! up their swinish shouts, at the butchers, re-
| joicing that henceforth no man would regard
them as walking lamp filters. The whales in
distant seas went spoutirg the praises of
Paine, the great shot at" and tickling their
greasy imaginations with the prospect Of i'm
munity from the intrusions of the harpoon
into their comfortable stores Of blubber. So
far as the oil market was concerned, their oc-
cupation, ike that Of Othelio, was "gone."
The illusion did not last however; Paine was
pronounced a humbug, and sank into insight
icance and obscurity, two things which he
seems to dread still more than exposure and
public indignation.
We have not the least faith in anything
with which this man is connected, but as a
matter Of news will state that the elements Of
this gas are benzole alcohol and water
mixed together; 4 current of atmospheric air
is passed through this mixture, and thereby
rendered infammable. The apparatus is
simple, and the production of the gas is at
tended by little trouble and no dirt. 1t can
be conveniently made in the house, and will
no doubt be found very useful for the coun-
try. DR.. Hayes, the well known chemist near
Boston, testifies to its goodness Benzole is
the only element consumed in any considera-
BILE quantity in the manufacture; this is a
liquid costing dollar gallon gallon is
reckoned to yield thousand feet of gas.
TESTIMONY FOR RAILRoADs.-The follow
ing from the Louisville journal affords strong
testimony in behalf of railroads, and shows
how they enrich the farmer and the powerful
claim that kind Of public Improvement has
upon him:
AT present there ore but two railroads completed
| running through the State of Michigan. These are
the southern Michigan" and the Central Mich-
early in the year 1852 The assessed value of real
estate of the State of Michigan was in 1881 Sd 526