Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1856-04-25

| brief observations.
| The President spoke with his usual readiness
and en-, pressem,ni and was frequently aud warm-
! ly applauded The citizens then asailed them
selves of the opportunity to exchange saln'aiions
with and receive ntroductions to the President
| and also Mr.. Secretary Dobbn. both of whom
were very cordially greeted by those preseat.---
The hero Of the Ko-ia affair. AS well as Mr. Sid
uey Webster. also received polite attentions.
THE BALL At THE NAVAL ACADEMY.
The President and his party, after returning
ia the hotel for a short time, visited the bail Civ
IN nv Cant Gold sborough, which toak place in
tho .pacious Mess Hall of the Institution. The
hall room presented the usual array of beauty
and brilliant unforms-ihe latter always maui
testing that gallant attention To the ladies which
i part Of the education of an officer. The full
band nf the Naval Academy discourred most
agreeable music. which. from the open windows
Of the hall, hanted out upon the surrounding
WATERS creating far distant echoes, aud awaken
ing pnlpitating respogses ia the bosoGns OF lnvol.
untary listeners in hnbita,ons quite distant from
The scene III enjoyment.
The slonp of war Pr,.ble, Mt her anchorage ia
the Severn, nj about IL o'clock, exhibited dis
play Of fire works. The rockets and the blue
hre- used in the service, &c. Illuminating the
waters had a very pretty elect viewed from
the wndnws If the ball room.
OFFICIAL VISIT TO THE NAVAL ACADEMY.
At alb mt n'clnck To. President and the SEQ
Rotary Of the Navy. accompanied ny Gov Lyon
and party, visited the Naval Academy. and were
appropriately received by Commander Colds
borough with the officers aud professors, and the
entire school Of 100 pupils We're drawn up in in
faniry line The official sautes were fired from
the guns Of the shore battery and from TIE
Pfeblc. which ship was gorgeously decorated
with about n hundred nags and s;rea'ners. After
Witnessing the rr fciency Of the students IN the
infantry drill. which they ARE taugbt III addition
tn their regular studies, they were invited 10
visit the haltcjie- t" witness the exercises Of the
stndcfts with great guns aud mortars. The rn-
cc.cd batteries represented section If YES
-el'- deck. with all Tia" warlike paraphernalia Of
The service, aud contained dozen or more "
pnunders. which woikea by III" youngsters
with grea' facility. The thunders of their dis
charged frnrn the enclosed rdhcs made the hends
If the purity ring again They were then invited
in witness the effect of shot aud shell from the
outside. The tnrget barrel upon an an
chorpd platform, mile ar more distant, and is
very frequently struck. On this occasion the
shot fell near enough thereto t. have insured the
obstruction If ships bout. The shot ricochet
ting fpf three or four miles oui into the hay. add
he explosion of the shrIl thrown i1om the lnef
tars was interesting to witness. mud must have
nst,nishcd the small craft continually passing
almost vi hin range of the guns.
THE VISIT 10 THE MERHmAc.
At l2l o'clutk, the morning train ui cars arri
we'd with large number Of members q! Congress,
hcnds of burenus, and other invited guests, with
quite II number Of ladies', IL visit the Merimuo.
imnng them were several ; 'Ilitor-,Mr Speaker
Ranks. Mr.. Faulkner. and sey.ial members OF
The press. Jud ges Lcgraod and Masonthe toug.
If Appeals and the louournble Anthony Ken
aicdv, Senator eject, were also present. The usn
al authorizations q saluiution- having taken pnce
the little government steam tender Engineer, in
charge oi Lieut. Lowell, formerly "f the Arctic
.xpediton, which bad been ordered here for the
purpose approached the wharf Of the naval school
Ter limited size prevented all the visitors pres
INT from cmbarking at once. aud the cltizensAnd
others were compelled TO wait the return 1T the
Engineer for IA second trip. The President. Sc
or"tary Of til" Navy aud party. members of Con
i;r"ssa Urge party OF lades,nnd some oihers,wcre
taken on board, aud proceeded to the Merrlmno
about five miles distant.
The favorable weather added greatly to the en-.
ioyment "f the trip. As the Menimac was APP
pronchod It's vast dimensions became prominent
to the view. Its yard, were manned IN honor of
the official visit and the sigh, of II small army of
Naors standing eject and compact upon even tho
highest yards of the large vessel and Ia the ends
It the blocks, was "A beautiful spectacle, tho "p-
pottunty of witno ssing which except upon similar
occnsions,i is but seldom presented
The President and the Secretary of the Navy
were received by Capt pendergnst in command,
ship. The formidable pnixhan's ihundered forth
The official salutes, which produced hardly per-
reptible tremur throughout the ship.
Capt. Pendergast then conducted his distinguish
d visitors through an examination of the immense
vessel. lis vast superiority in dimensions. nma.
ment, spacione accommodation and wnrlike ethcl-
ncy, as wel ma neaness and beauty of hnish,w was
apparent ut every step.
Upon their return to the upper deck the visi.
tots were the witnesses If II spectacle, in com.
parson with which the scene presented TO II Vis.
tor under ordinary circumstances IL tame IN
deed-a ship of war in order of battle The or,
der was given to "prcpare ship for action when
ia scene of activity was presented truly exciting.
Tive hundrd men rushed To their positions and
heir duties. The "a pound Paxhnn guns were
unlashed. the immense 1870 los. Paxhan pivot
g,un was also unlashed and wheeled to its embra-
ares-the magazine opened its supplies Of app
munlnn-the order was given TO load and "hre
william soon the of the trepiend rus ar
inament 81 the Merrimac burst forth With an eSplo-
ron of sound which must have tried the hrmest
nerves. Broad~de after brondSde was poured
iorh with ali the impetuosity ofnn actual en-.
yagement
As the thick smoke which cnveloped the ship
vos partially removed by the wind in the paus
- ut III" guns. the order given I, ''rrpel
oardcr> on the s'arboard quarter" A hundred
nen rushed To the mainmu>t for their boarding
nke- aud cuiasses.and from thrnce to the point
t imaginary attack Those with cutlas-es NJ
ended the holwn'ks and the rjgging,and attack
d with naked blades their invisible foe while an
array of hr'>,lins pixies npop The deck were ready
receive the rash invaders. The companies of
oarines fired their volies at command. The or
ers were several tunes repeated, anu the scenes
described enacted. The view iro II the bull
warks, where most of the company were station
4 d, was novel and exciting, and no doubt well
epaid the visitors for the reverhcratiui.s which
rust yet be ringing il their ears The ladies,
iany of whom were in close proximity to guns