Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1862-05-08
w. ID. WALLACH.
The HANDWRITING ON THE WALL

Int HANDWRITING On THE WALL.
The following rhoss that the authors Of the
mysterious handwritings on the walls of Rich
mond are yet at work, and have not yet been
detected By the enrased Confsderatssi
rRAIroRoUs AND iNusNprAaT LEGENDS.
TFrom the Richmond Examiner, Of April ~ ]
Yesterday morning the walls Of the houses of
Purcell. Lsdd 4 Co , E. B. Spence 4 Co., Bin
ford 4 Porter, the Powhatan House, and other
conspicuous establishments about town, were
covered with incendiary and blasphemoas
writings, verbatim copy Of some Of which ~s
give below. The writing was in a fair round
and deliberate hand, and all evidently per-
formed By one and the same person-the
writing In the various places named being
identical in character. The dirty work must
have been begun before the street lamps were
extinguished at IL o'clock on Saturday night,
az 1t could not possibly be accomplished in the
dark. We are confirmed in this opinion by
the fact that all the writings are In the neigh
bOrhood Of the lamps. From the amount of
writing and the sire of the letters, granting il
to have been performed by one hand, It Is com
puted 1t could not have occupied the writer
less than an hour, that is from III TO IL O'Clock.
Where, it is on every hand asked, where, du-
ring that dull hour of the watch were the
much-vaunted, highly paid Cs4 per diem and
Perquisites) detectives? Whore was Rossvally?
Where was Bob Grow!
That the writer was an Indifferent poet and
an illiterate and blasphemous man, there can
be but one opinion among those who scan
THE WRITING on THE WALLS.
On Purcell, Lsdd & Co. east wall
"On 1orktown's walls the cry is still they
come"
"Change your bells into cannon, and charge
with Confederate SIS"
Southern Lexicon covered with glory: -
'Pinks of chivalry.'"
The Lord is on our side, but in conse-
quence Of pressing engagements elsewhere,
could not attend at Pea Ridge, DOnelson, &C.,
&c"
Z" He will also be prevented frsm visiting his
chosen 'pinks' at Yorktown.
"SOuthern hearts are beating low
Manassa boosters shun the foe;
Stars and stri pes shall wave again
NOTiherners tread this ebon main -
On E. B. Spence Co g west wall:
Something new under the sun, to wit :
'Petticoat gunbOats. "
Nationals unfurl your banners over York
town walls
On the Powhatan House south wall
southern boosters grasp the dust,
In the Lord you vainly trust
For the Lord you fain would cheat
With HalcYon lips and PIuto's feet"
The cry is still they come "
Also copy Of the apparently favorite lines
Southern hearts are beating low"
On Binford 4 Porter's west wall:
"On Yorktown heights the cry is still they
come"
Change your bells into cannon, and charge
with Confe-" Here the midnight scribe ap-
pears to have been interrupted in his work,
most probably By the watchman on his way to
extinguish the lamps at the corner.
At an early hour Of the day all these ribald
inscriptions, except these on the house of Pur-
cell, Ladd & Co., and E. B. Spence l. Co,
were efaced by the propretors of the different
houses. Those at the latter places, owing no
doubt to the fact that the owners Of the two
houses resided at distance from them, were
permitted to remain, and until nightfall proved
great attraction to Sunday loungers. Many
bitter implications were vented against the
unknown perpetratOr Of the scurrilous per-
foruance