The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1855-12-27

| Their light through the ar, and took pretty
good care moi 10 run after them, when they
did no. present themselves uusoughi. But
,bev s,;ll m.o.. very little of Them when they
die, Just casting the n, Aises aown mai on 'ne
ground until the explosion was. oVsr' ana 'ne
fragments were scattered. There VS. one
huge shell, however, they never couia sse'
used to which was fred from one particular
mortar, this she'll measured sixteen inches
across, and contained eighteen pounds of
gunpowder in its mischievous cavity. Ii
was emitted from raft that lay in the har-
Dor, and occupied some forty seconds in It's
flight first, a very perceptible Whit of white
smoke burs, out in the raft, then, on came
the ponderous missile, turning over and over
in its flight h--whish--whish--w
an intermittiug whisllng sound; at last
down il pitched on the ground, with the
force of fifty tons concentrated in lis impact,
bursting with atremendors explosion at The
instant. TIE fragments of this shell were
scattered, when it burst, more than 800 yards
in all directions, il therefore never could be
looked upon in the light of an agreeable
neighbor--a quarter Of mile was by no
means respectable distance from il. In
consequence of its whistlIug note, this mon.
sier horrendura mirdbiie was christened Whist
ling Dick, and waichmen were sci TO look
for The white whif of smoke from the float
ing raft, whenever parties were engaged up.
on The works within its range. The instant
this was noticed the alarm was raised, end
the men rushed 10 the shelter OF the nearest
hole or embankment within their reach.
A hole or pitdug hastily into the ground
is The first rudiment of a protective work.
Several such Judgments are made during
the hours OF darkness, in advance OF the
foreE sttrench, and from four TO six rife.
men are sent 10 occupy each. One of these
meE are kept constantly on the look out,
above The edge of the pit, ready 10 take aim
al any chance object that is presented to bis
eye, the rest Of the parry while away the
hours, n the absence of any stirring excite.
ment got up in their behaIfby the enemy, The
best way they can. They are completely
sheltered from the effects OF round shot, and
even shells fall and burst within yard of
! their lurking place without working them
any harm. If however, one of these explo-
sive spheres lights, by any unlucky chance,
quite within the pit, il is certain destruction
TO the whole. Yetth watching ths descent
of the shells that fly in their direction, seems
10 afford ratter pleasurabIe excitement
Than otherwise. have often heard remarks
Of speculative kind ven,ured with the most
perfect nonchalaDce, which for theft point
The probable safe arrival OF one Of these
J deadly missiles, that seemed 10 be coming
| straight for the speculator down from the
clouds 1t sno unusual thing fol small bets
in tobacco 10 be laid as TO how far of some
shell win fall. Wagers as 10 The course over
head OF round shot were amongst the, COM
mon resources to which the little garrisons
of these rife pits turned for amusement
Tne passage of ball TO The right OF the left
of the vertical often determined the pipe in
which last charge Of the precious weed
should be smoked. The scenes in these
holes are, however, sometimes of the most
painful kind. l remember once to have
made one OF parry of four in pi, as large
as round table, aud six feet deep, and which
| was entirely isolated from all friendly aid
during the continuance Of daylight. Of this
hparty, Two were suffering from severe dys-
enlery, third was supporting shattered
arm, aud The fourth had bis eye knocked out
by splinter Produced by a cannon ball.
4 Upon one occasion chanceed TO be ir d
| pit advanced TO within 80 or 100 yards Of
one of The Russian works. AL this time our
behavior was SO carefully watched, that the
top OF a feather could not be shown fora mo-
ment above The embankment without doz.
en- rias-bals whizziug past il. There was
an officer with the party, bui he was suffer
ing SO severely from dysentety, that he lay
for = long time in a fainting state, with biz
head on The knees Of one OF the men. While
In this sad predicameut, the fancy seized
him that Il he could have someebot coffee i
would at once revive him. He expressed
his wish and Il was found there was coffee
II in store, but no wood al hand for the fire.
i Observing this difficulty, one Of the privatef
i remarked that he would soon furnish the
wood. He seized pickaxe v hich had been
used in the construction Of the pi:. and in an
4 instant jumped from the hole. Without the
slightest hurry in his department. he took his
way to q tree that was prostrate on The ground
s ahouf for,v uarda 10 the rear of The position