The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-01-21
VOL. XIX.---NO. Is.

we wanted We should go down and helm ksil
'em. ~ AP ~
Q.-What did you saw TO that9
Ave all volunteered right away. but
niassa John picked out the best lot of hands
al'u sem en- right away TO join desc here otfe r
boys ana so we all come down
Q-Do You know how to shoot
A-les, sab. THE fellows eyes twinkled
WIN pieas uie AT the prospectl learn young
maSsa John to handle.he rifle When he wa<
ooy we usesi to shoot deer together and /
mp.
Q.--Will Your master come down to the Is
land and fight
A,-~fes, sab; he promised to jine MS soon in
the works with he company
One great big fellow over in a sunny corner
OF the deck had been an attentive listener to
the conversation, and whenever the replies of
his fellow slave gave him peculiar pleasure,
or conceded with his views, a grin would
spread clear across his face. and thinking that
he might be inclined to talk approached him
and put the question, ''Well, Sam, what can
You do in a fight ~
A.-Run. sab, when Bucra man come wild
dc gun, and NJ the same time tipping his hat
and scraping his foot, asked IF Massa please
give him chaw tcrbaccer. -
Several negroes i'll Sotto roce 10 each other
sighlhed their dis3pprobation of the fellows
conduct and reply by calling HIM yah hoo
nlgg"r Their respect, however, for the
presence OF white persons prevented any other
expression OF contempt.
In this lot of stout fellows there was MOI one
badly clothed or under-fed. They were all
above the medium height of the white man
strong, hellthy-though rough and tiull--such
"a swarm the yard" of every large planta-
ton. All We're provided with large, comfort
able blankets, strapped to the shoulders i'll
military style. and most Of them carried be-
sides a quantity of baggage.
Their destination, learned, was not to the
fort but 10 tfa works tefsura n hor Mon
trie, on Sulliyan's Island. An extensive cause
way is here being constructed 10 connect with
the main land, and upon this, as upon the
redoubtS now being thrown up on the island,
Il very large force of negroes is employed /
am told that they number some seven or eight
hundred fellows. very large number of
Irishmen are also employed i'll the same work
but for endurance the negro beats them ali
hollow. There is no use for the pick axe, and
with the shovel have seen the slave work all
round the white man and then turn round and
grin 1T what he had done.
Among the passengers in cabin was Ed
mund Ruiiin, Of Virginia. This gentleman
has been i'll the South since the commence
ment OF the secession movement / noticed
his venerable face in the Sovereign Conven-
tion almost every day. Since the adjourn
ment OF that body he has been through Flori-
da and Alabama, and l believe remained in
Tallahassee and Montgomery until after the
passage OF the Ordinance of Secession. BY
way of recreation he visited the fortifica tions
of the harbor on this occasion.
As a companion and pleasant talker, have
met with few men / like better than Mr.. Ruff
fin. He is full of information and ready to
impart it, He is withal quite a secessionist,
and as a matter of course readily finds congo
niality of sentiment in this latitude. He
seems TO take quite an interest i'll the excite
ments of the day and is hailed everywhere as
the representative of what Virginia was, and
what the Southerners would have her be. He
likewise expresses a lively hope and abiding
confidence III the ultimate secession OF his
State.
FORT NoULTRIE.
The correspondent, in describing the fortif-
cations, thus describes the works at Fort
Noultrip:
A Fort Moultrie, Sunday though it was,
every thing was busy. The columbiadS spiked
and burned by Anderson, are all, with the eX-
ception of three, reinounted on new carriages,
unspiked and rs good as ever Several of the
merlons erected upon the parapet to protect
the guns bearing on Sumter are completed
The work is done in a most mastery manner.
Barrels and bags of sand are disposed and
evenly packed as 10 give a solid masonry like
appearance. The merlons are Very thick and
impenetrable, and afford great security 10 the
artilleriStS behind them.
The process of constructing this sort of de-
fence is III this manner: The bomb proof sur
face of the parapet is turned mp and rows of
barrels OF sand are placed in positions desired.
The sand is all tightly rammed into barrels
and filed up compactiy in the middle of the
space formed by the shell of barrels. Outside
of the barrels bags of sand are laid, and the
whole, tightly bound together by iron bands
and ropes, is perfectly impregnable. Many of
the exposed parts of the fort, as well as the
magazine ARE protected with work of this kind
The force employed is very large-aimost
too large. The negroes wheel barroWs of sand
into fortification from without, and the whites
carry it up the parapet and use it. On the
present occasion the string of laborers was
very large. Many of them in red hunting
shirts We're gentlemen not only by birth but
in education and refinement. Wheelbarrow
i'll hand they labor side by side with the ne
gro. Here is Il huge sand pile on the ramparts
and the red coats swarm about it. Laughing
and les ting, work becomes play, and men who
never before lifted spade worked on without
complaint. Here comes Mr.. Rufn, says one.
/ All the party for the moment ceased labor and
the venerable old gentleman smilingly ap-
preached with his hearty " Well, boys, hard
at it--thats right-giNe me n spade, and suit
/ ing action to word handed up his cane to one
! of the party, and with the shovel he received
! in exchange actually set into work by loading
/ the wheelbarrows. . II was the only way he
had of committing treason against the Uni
/ ted States, and for several minutes, l assure
/ you, he made good use of the opportunity
/ All We're anxious that Mr.. Rufiin should fill
one barrow for them AT least, so that by the
time he had performed the requests of all
have no doubt was satisfied TO get away.
MISSOURI AND THE CRISIS
Mr.. Johnson, chairman of the Commit
| tee of Federal Relations, introduced u bill
/ in the Senate, on Wednesday, which pro
/ yides that the Governor shall appoint one
/ Commissioner from each Congressional dis
lrict to Il consulting Convention of the
( States, to be held eat Nashville on the 4th OF
! February, to agree upon acommon issue by
/ way of amendment to the Constitution TO be
/ made by the slave States, and the res ult TO be
! laid before the Convention called III the third
! section. To that Convention the Governor is
directed TO appoint three Commissioners from
Missouri to meet three Commissioners from
each of the thirty-three States. The latter
| Convention to be held at Wheeling, on the
! llth of February, for the purpose of adjust
! ing the present difficulties, TO preserve the
/ Union and to avert civil war. The Governor
is also required to appoint one COMMISSIONS
TO proceed to Illinois, and request the Legis
/ lature to second the movement anu use Its in
fiuence with the other free States to have con
servative men appointed to the Wheeling Con
! yention.
The bill was amended by the adoption of
provision similar to that contained III the Nir
ginia bill, submitting the action OF the Con
yention 10 the people after which the who'll
subject was tabled and II substitute embracin;
an entirely new proposition asking ConSres
10 call "a Convention Tor the redress of eriey
ances as provided III the fifth article of tn
Constitution, was introduced by Mr.. Ste
venson.
A petition praying for the adoption of tn
Crittenden propositions by Congress, bearing
nearly 5000 names, has been forwarded I
Washington.
ST, LoCIs, January lS.--In the House yes
terday Mr.. Steyenson's substitute for tn
Convention bill, asking Congress to call Ma
tionai Convention, was lost-l04 10 II.
Mr. Lacey's amendment for the original bill
submitting the action of the Convention I
the people was then adopted, and the bill
passed,--l05 to l7,-;lll the Republican delega
lion from st. Louis, except one, voting in tn
negative.
MESSAGE OF THE GOVERNOR OF KEsrucKY.
In his message to the Legislature of Ken
tucky Governor Magofiin asks an expression
i.fa ar ohaf tnu nf t~if uda an,