Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1855-06-01
DAILY lIRGINIAN.
FuIihcr roroien Extlacts.

correspondence of the London Times, dated to
the 18th of April
RUSSIAN rERsEN FRANCE.
If II committee were sitting ON tho siege, that
committee would report progress. As yet there is
no result. The cannonade against the town has
been kept up, though not necessarily. since it
commenced on Monday last. our fire has been
brisk each day from sunrise to sunset, but owing
to n strange fatality it has always slaokened du-
ring tho nig ght. The last siege showed the in
efficacy of litful fire. and although tho vice in
our practice has this timo been improved upon
1t Is not entirely corrected. II tho fact is not
torgoten,ut least it's not vivdy enough remom-
bcrod that il Is not II common for,Ioss we are be-
sIegng, but place full of military stores and
work yards, and TINT the nation against whom
are fighting nro patient, Industrious, hard -wor-
king, indoatigahlo, and of unequnlled excellence
in the art of patching and repairing. Who that
ever posted II IN Russia but arrived at his Jour
ney's end with the profound conviction TINT cve-
~ ploIghhoy pressed for tho nonce into tho ser
vice Ms IA position, is great mechanical genius,
whose mind makes up for the lack oi material
II genius fertile of resources,and neNhaustlblo i'll
oApedionts Who but Russian can drive n rick
city khtka, aud drive, too, rs fast as horses can
70, over stones and through pools of water, and
across ruts deep rs trenches; and who but Rus
sinn, when the bihltkn breaks down, ~ of course
IT must, can repair il without assistance without
instruments but n stone from tho roadside, with
no material except n pieco of knotted cord or
old man Shift is tho genius of the common peo-
pie, and il is exactly shift which is required in the
defence of town. To have eye for odds and
ends, and the skllful hand 10 put them to usc,not
deliberately and cogltatvely, but rapidly, instne
lively, with il rs il were sort of inspiration TINT
is exactly the talent which constructs gun cnrrin
res out of the mouldy boards md raises an curth-
work when others would ounderin in the loose snnd
ii, IL
There can hardly he n want of skilled urtiicers
in an army, every Russian Of which can do al
most anything with his nNc, from making II cart
wheel to tho carving of neat figure Of st. Mich
olns. And rs we have to dea with Rus sian
garrison and not with Germans or Spaniards,
that Russian garrison always manages 10 do ns
much ut night as we undid in the day. II IL whis-
pered in our ranks thntthc Russian gunnors are
chained to their guns. Perhaps they are. 1t re-
quiros fortitudo almost moro than humnn to
stand in those Russian batteries, into which our
enormous proiectiles are pitched with uncrring
aim. Perhaps the working parties, TINT work
night md day IN what wo would call the cng-
neers' yards of Sehastopo, also chained to
their Jobs, or they arc brlbed by money and drink,
or inspired by "A fanatic zeal for the supremacy
of Russia, aud the triumph Of tho orthodox
church. To Us it matters very little whnt secret
springs nro 10 work To produce the results which
eaeh day call up 10 fresh eXortons, and demand
fresh victims. Whether tho thousands that creep
out every night and work like insects in an ant
hill nre chained in gangs or driven forward at the
point of the bayonet, or by the fcnr of field piec
es, loaded to the muzzle with grnpeshot posted
in their rear, or whether they ply their spades
and picks, und ralse their Eabions nH' 'ar the in
spratlon Of drink, patriotism, or religion, the
result TO us is always the same. The guns which
silence by day raise their voices agnin next
morning; the platforms we have broken
l.. al. a
which flew into the air if hurled up by a voloa-
no, our shells diving deep into the ground,
burst beneath them-that earth and those gab-
ons are re arranged, retlod, replaced whom our
batteries awake from their nightly torpor. 1t is
true our fire has been kept up at night.
VARIETY AND VAdAIIEs or THE RuLsIAN PRoJEc-
TILES.
The Russians trent us TO II pleasing variety in
the way of projectos. First comes tho round
shot of all sizes, which rushes past You with
shrek something like railway whistle badly
blown. Next comes the grape, which flies slow
or and round, like large coYcy of large birds
flying very swiftly Then comes Il gunshell
which approaches like a round shot, but has the
pleasing trick of bursting when it reaches you;
so that you have to run double rsk-lirst of the
shot itself and then Of the pieces Next comes
the rtar-shell, which, though really the worst
of the large proiectes, ! some how dread the
least; ltremains iii the mir for nearly half min
ute, and in the night you it quite plain
ly. owing to its benring the fuse 1t glanees
along very gracefully; rising to II great height,
making gentle whistle every now ahd then like
a peetwit plover which becomes louder and
louder till it drops Although you can see it
all tho way, it is most difficult thing to tell
where it will fall; and mono but the Oldest hands
(men of whom it is said that they had got SO mur-
cd 10 fire that a cannon ball would hop off the pit
of their stomaehs,) can really make good guess
to where it will drop. What mikes it worse
than Il gun shell is that the former 1ying 80 low
retains its impetus so that if it once pass you
before it bursts, all the pieces will continue to
fly forward, and you are safe. Whereas, ms tho
mortnr-sh SHELLS pitched as high rs it will go into
the air, and then drops, the pieces have no more
impetus than what the bursting charge gives
them to fly in every direction for radius of up
wares OF 200 yards, and something considerably
more. But my greatest horror Of all, and the
deadliest foe we have, is the Russian rifle bullet
1t is not so perfect as ours, but, as Mercutio
says 1T will do well enough" | give you a
sketch of it. tllere is given an admirable pen
and ink sketch of the bullet, which is like the
English conieal.) This little gentleman gives no
warming but flies about all day long, and ranges
Loo yards.
ADJUSTMENTS OF THE RIFLEsfEN.
Some time ago (writing April l6) was watch
Jug three French Chasseurs "potting away" at a
Russian who was sitting with his legs dangling
over the sides of precipice, and now and then
returning their fire Tho French knew the man
quite well, and admitted he so good shot
that they did not care to expose themselves too
freely. All their balls fell short of the man, and
after he had received three or four rounds from
each he raised his rife down went the Chasseurs
and somebody else, ping flew the ball through
the air and ..plop" il came aoainst tba rock be-