Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-12-28
FROM oAERO.
Lafe.s B5aca 8egssae9H Rcysr...

FROM 0AEBO.
Latest BSaea zseg4sEees Rcysrs..
Special Correspondents of nrS @Hsour Democrat
CAIRO, Ill, DecembeF I9.-The troops and
the enemy hereabOuts continue "a treat one
another with the most distinguished eonsidera-
ton. 1t seems 10 as, as doJbtiest 70 also appears
TO them, that the opposing army hes buTOWed
itself, bear-tashiou, for tie, %vinter, and is con
tent to suck its claws ni@ comes again.
Be this as it may, a rebel has become a TaFa arts
indeed, and if a glimpse is caught OF one at all is
pretty sure to be under the protecting folds of q
nag of truce. \ itte band Of tleir cavalry viii
occasionally. as was the case yesterday, MAKE is
appearance ab0ut Norfolk, and ia the c0ursr Ola
day or two some of our scouting parties viii re-
turn the ceeaplim9tt by paying Belmont or VI
cinity a YHt. zBUt the resUlI is generally moth
ing, a9dSbotsSparties return little wiser than
whenl46 SET cut. And so we go-either side
waiirg% patiently waiting, for the curtain to
Iis4 and the grand drama to begin.
THE DIVERSION Of TROOP FROM C~OLU3IBUs.
The information received from Colulbus
several days since 20 the effect that . portion, at
least. of the Gulf Stg1e troops had been returned
to the lower Mississippi to guard against an at
tack or expected attacks Oh New Orleans. la
not since been either confessed OF denied. There
Is reason to believe, however, that the statement
was in the main a correct one. Certain it IS there
was for a day or two quite a furry among the
rebels at Columbus. Our spies were, at first, az
a loss to account for the sudden activity, and
naturally inferred that It must 5a-okeu d move
nent toward this quarter. This explains the
unusual precautions observed here q while since,
when all Of a sudden, one night, every thing was
put in readiness to meet an attack. If IL turns
out that this diversion of troops has been ia any
force, it is most unfortunate that We are not now
ready to take advantage Of il.
OPERATIONS OF REBEL sPIEs.
It seems to me that, jus, at present, the most
active of the rebel army OF M.ssIssippi, is that
portion OF it Engaged in the secret service.
Hardly a day passes but what we hear of some
operation OF these spies, who seems to have q
place in the highest and lowest positions Of our
army. Every now and theu THESE men "mysfe-
riOUs!y Cd disappear" and a5Jri5 tire Tine they
are safely ensc0nsed III Bishop Py,ks camp. ans.
horrible to relate, and 70 the sslonishmsnt of our
officers, discovered to have been spiesi We
have very recently seen an instance Of this in
this very district 4 staff officer having snc-
ceeded IN tOmenting a serious distrUst throughout
the country u regard 20 one UfOur best generals,
and possessing himself Of a. the secrets ootaiDs-
bic, by one in his POSITION, suddenly SENDS in
MS resignation, starts Osteusibly for 81. Louis.
and Is next heard lEOm IL Columbus. l. mas
been related in all the papers uow the osheceven-
ing q skIf w.th one or tvg9 persons in It succeed
ed IN running the blCchaJe. How important
was the news. ami how many plans Of our ferti-
~hcatlons these men had, of course, no one knows,
but It Is pretty certain that they had some i'm
pOrtsut business on hand, OF they would not
have attempted it. Yet the mere operation of
running the blockade here ia d small kiT under
the cover of darkness, is nor such a daring feat
as to bianch the cheek of a man OK les nerve
than one likely to be engaged on a dangerous
mission.
Our nights haze recently been remarkably
clear, and it seems b. means of the bright
moonshine, the centres at Fort Holt manag-d.
the other night, TO spy cut one solitary boat,
which got away after all. Who can rell how
many other secret emissaI!es OF the Southern
ContedeTacy have hoated quietly by uu1bservad,
when the nights were dark aud stormy, sid the
rain and the winds were indUlging in a carnival
What was or Is there 70 prevent an expert water
man with muiied ours from doing Il anv
dark night Il certgiulY IS not 10 be expected
that the seuaias az eisher Birds Point. Fort Holt,
or on the gmb0It generally moUred near the
latter t0rtihcati0n, are sufficiently lyuz-eyel o.
penetrate the fog and gloom, of over = nile II
intermediate water, Ia Iuust o. ;as ia go cjrias
Of the world, in order 70 gaard agsi the hsr-
Dor yeea30ndS. who a2 Nou5 h, pick u stray
bits Of plank, sol, er. tad. etc. there has been
instituted q LaTJo" polira, who with their boats
MdAe LAII regular patrols among the wlagves
ana shipping, and thus do ehec-jvs service, As an
hOuT visit to a1y police court VIII show. Now.
with ell cue respect to the powers that be. [
would inquire if the iun0r. auca of strictly
guarding the blockade II this point IS not fully
as great as the junk, lead nj copper s]tealiugs
which call forth the prgcsiioLs above alluded to,
and whether a regular nightly patrol of ez-
n-TrnTsAL EaHFUFar. ENr0 .nH- Hrr.r.a-- 4--nNT
not De productive Of exec. us e5lseqgeuc-s2
I am happy to adj. huver-r. raa- It l. ~,
always that these esl.ssaias a.uIe cur vigilance.
although the aatphing Of them is SO Iuuch mose
hoHor5d IN the breach than In La- Observance In
the instance / am ROW to speak Of. though, the
detection was owing 20 tue sh-cwduess of =
sturdy trenchmaH, not 20 any OF our military
authorities Among ths passengers on the
steamer NeptGEs, which le.. - Louis over a
week since, was an apparently very poa-. very
loyal, and very innocent cJuurrraa.a, with S
few dollars worth of ~-1e-fi--. ,.c.. rn4skrf for
Commerce. The steamer was atuarE those lie I
tanned by the grounding o. the Benton. and laid
above tre Eun-hoat for a day or more. Before
they arrived at Commerce, tee aforesaid owner
OF tie groceries became apparently very much
ala med IN regard to the pTgashl. presence of
JEFF. Thompson in the Vicinity. and finally con
clUdet that Instead of stopping there. be- voufi
land at an IS and a few miles below. occupied
solely by a tTeucamsu, who hai a wood ward
there. Accordingly, here he was left on Friiay
morning last. Towards night ire STRANGER dis
appeared, aud nought was seen cg him nv me
family until quite dark The next nigh. Where I
he mad gone, or fer WHAT, the honest Freucbnar
could not sasIase. In view Of the vicinity Of {
FHce Landing, the presence o., some OF TnomU- .
sons iCrca--he more he cOgijated over The mat
ter the more suspicious he De ARE Mentioning
the matter To his wife. she confessed her suspic- I
IONS that all was not right, by the information
that she had saen the stranger have q pocket /
book altogether TOO well " Huei" TO belong 10 a /
man whose outward appearance bespoke a de-
gree OF poverty Upon this the occupant Of the /.
island concluded he Was sure to receive a Secesh
visit oeto.e morning, and az once began 70 make
arrangements iOr a defense az his htt!a home
stead. RE had quits a little stock Of arms in the
house, which he not improperly supposed might
excite the oUpitiiy Of Ihlm.s0us men. and to-
getheT with another male member of his family
he had got these weapons duly ranged behind one
Of his wood piles. when To- and behold the
again appeared upon the scene Co
ing hunting, eh " said he. Yes replied the
F~renchman, land by gar you're the game"
W heregPol unuer cover Of q rife held bv the
second party he seized the unknown, and De
gan a search, and what was his aS,olshment
upon opening his closely bUttonel coat to find
his prisoner arrayed underneath in all the toy
gerry Of a rebel officer This was sufficient:
the game was secured aud securely held until
appearance Of the first government boat I'D
bound, the D.. 4. January, when he was
duly shipped in good condition, consigned to
Major General HslleCk.
PRICES LANDING STILL A SUSPICIOUS Lo-
CALITT.
Speaking of Prices landing above. reminds
NE that several boatnen have recently stated to
that THIS point was still, TO the best Of their
belief a rendezvous for rebel scouts, spfss, s.s.
cry often, SO they say, people have 0ssu seen
lowering about the place, who have no business
here, and VINO s%uJieaiv disappear when q boot
approaches. Not only " solitary horssmen," bu:
aud tIipie-s Of them had been aotic-f
loal the pilot houses o. passing bus
hey ere never visible when the boat draws near
q where they were at irst observed
THE INSPECTIONS REVIEWS. EFC
1t was generally supposed, upon the departure