The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1862-03-28
News and other Items.

Philadelphia Press, to the effect that the
rebels have purposely misrepresented the
actual draught. We copy:
When she had got half way to Craney rlsl-
and she put her helm aport and headed for us
(the Congress.) We believed she could not
reach us. We had heard that she drew fully
% feet of water. If her draft had been SO
great, she could not have come near US. In
my opinion, she does not draw over Is feet of
water, and the stories which had been told
about her draft, were, no doubt, cOncocted
and circulated by the rebels themselves, for
the purpose of deceiving US.
In recent lecture, George w. Curtis
related an anecdOte which he asserted he
knew to be true, and which strikingy illus
trates the universally and ineradicable
character of the feeling of American nation
atty. Commodore Barron, captured at
Hatteras Inlet, while an inmate of Fort
Warren, was reading the newspaper &C.
counts Of the deadly artillery practice, the
intrepid daring of the sailors, the magnifi-
cent evoutions and skillful mana cement of
Dupont at Port Royal, until, full of excite"
ment, be sprang to his feet, and turning to
friend, exclaimed, "By Heaven, there is
nothing in the world like our navy !"
1t is stated that General Grant was
superseded on account of charges having
been preferred against him by certain Off,
GERS in bis command, said to have been
prompted by jealousy, that he absented
himself from his forces at Fort Donelson on
the Saturday preceding the surrender, for
six or seven hours, thereby imperiling
Netherlands divis on, who could not be
relieved without orders from the command
ing General. General Grants friends as
s:rt that his absence was from necessity
and at the request of Commodore Foote,
who was wounded and feared that his gum
boats, being disabled, would be taken by
the enemy.
General Haleck having been solicited
to attend in St. Louis at an exhibition of
school children for the benefit of the poor,
and being unable to do so, sent note of
declination containing this paragraph:
The corrupt politicians of the present day
will probably from self-interest, continue to
fan the flames of civil discOrd. But our chill.
dren should be taught that we are all members
of the same family and that our country can
never be permanently divided. We must in
still into their minds those sentiments of fra.
ternal affection ard pure patriotism which
alone can restore peace to our couatry and
eradicate all traces of the animosties which
have been engendered by this unholy rebel.
lion.
"A sad accident occurred in Detroit
Saturday, by which Mr.. o. Almy, the well
known scenic artist lost his life, and Mr..
William Wright was very seriously, if not
fatally injured The unfortunate men were
engaged in decorating the ceiling of DR..
Duffeld's Church, when suddenly, without
any previous warning, the whole centre
portion of the scafolding, which fills the
body of the church, fell, carrying them with
it to the floor, distance of thirty feet.
CHARLES ELLET, jr., civil engineer of
Washington, as long ago as the first of
February, predicted just what has taken
place at Hampton Roads. He then said:
1t is not generally known that the rebels
now have five steam rams nearly ready for use.
Of these five, two are on the Lower MISSISSIPPI
ri, two are at Mobile, and one is at Norfolk.
The last of the five, the one at Norfolk, is
doubtless the most formidable, being the Uni
ted States steam frigate Merrimac, which has
been so strengthened, that in the opinion of
the rebels, it may be used as ram.
If the Merrimac is permitted to escape from
Elizabeth River, she will be almost certain to
commit great depredations on our armed and
unarmed vessels in Hampton Roads; and may
even be expected to pass out under the guns
Fortress Monroe, and prey upon our commerce
in Chesapeake Bay.
Ihave attempted to call the attention OF the
Navy Department and the country SO often to
this subject during the last seven years, that
almost hesitate to alude to it again; and
would not do SO here, but that think the dan.
ger from these tremendous engines is very i'm.
minent, but not at all appreciated.
Experience derived from accidental COLI
sions shows that vessel struck in the waist
by q steam ram, at sea, will 60 down almost
simultaneously, and involve, as has often hap
pened, the loss of nearly all on board.
WENDELL PHILLIPS lectured in Wash.
ington last week, and dined with Speaker
Grow of the House. At the lecture Vice
President Hamlin sat on the platform.
Senator Powell and Mr.. Wadsworth of
Kentucky, Speaker Grow, and many other
Congressman, were present, with a large
and enthusiastic audience. A special to
the Chicago Tribune says:
The speaker was hearty in his praise of the
emancipation message, which declared in q
voice from the Holy of Holes saying. . Cen
tlemen of the Border States, now is your time
to sell out-now or never" 1t is, said Mr..
Phillips, q very little wedge, but Lncoln's
face is turned towards Canaan. He has emf
grated from Kentucky, and the doctrine Of no
constitutional power to touch slavery. The
Constitution in peace gave no power to sus-
pend the habeas corpus, to make paper mon.
ey legal tender, to purchase southern Missis'
sippi. to steal Texas, or to blockade Charles
ton with stone vessels, but out of the rebellion
Government had got the power to smite sla-
very. Lincoln sits surrounded with thunder
bolts, and has but to put forth his hand and
hurl one at this system. You can't stop or
help the issue of the fight. Encamp in the
South and one hundred thousand blacks will
soon Join your one hundred thousand soldiers.
You may say the stars and stripes don't
mean freedom to slaves. They know they do.
add one of numerous sentences worth quot