The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1862-01-16

A Trip Down the Rivsr-The "sHtua-
tton " - Affairs at Paducah -Con-
Crabsnd GOods-The CongressHonaI
E1eefAon an the First District OF
KentUeky.
Anticipating that the long expected at
tack upon Columbus was near at hand, we
steppea on board che Courier, Saturday, and
the next day at 5 P. N landed on the classic
shores Of The far-famed Delta City. The
specials to the Chicago papers, published
far and vide Saturday morning, attracted
to Cairo hundreds of visitors anxious 10
"be in at the death" Among these were
the reporters of the New York, ST. Louis,
Cincinnati and Chicago papers, all of whom
mad sharpened their reportoriaI pencils to
write the history of the Fall of Column
bus" 1t is hardly necessary to say that
the EVENTS Indefinitely postponed, !" per-
haps "on account of the weather" or for
other reasons known only to Gems. Grant
and Hallecl.
Awaiting ourselves of the invitation of
Capt. Lemcke of the Fanny Bullitt, we
visited Camp Jefferson, eight miles below
Cairo, where Cen McClernand's brigade
consisting of infantry, artillery and heavy
force of cavalry, ia stationed. Extensive
preparations were being made to msve, and
our dispatches state that it has gone to
BlaudVille. The troops were in fine spirits.
and eager to be of. 1t is believed that no
immediata attscLr r,,or r.oI.~.1.. E,
ed, at least not until heavy force is thrown
out on the road from HopkinsviHe to Co.
lumbus. 1t is also surmised that the Pa
ducah forces Will attack Fort Beaurepard
on the Tennessee river. These @shrewd
guesses " Of the war critics st Cairo, are,
however, to be taken with many grains OF
allowance. From our own observation and
from conversations with different officers,
we are convinced that the future movements
OF the army are known, only where they
ought to beat headquarters. @rsfag
The gunboats at Cairo-thirteen in num-
ber-areA no doubt the most formidable
river crafts ever constructed. They have
been already described in our columns,
Each boat is attended by a powerful tug,
used now as messengers, and for the purpose
OF taking ashore from the gunboats an
chored in the stream, the officers of the ex-
petition. The tugs viii be used, it is said,
hereafter for towing the floating batteries.
There are now moored mile above Cairo,
but the guns are not mounted and are not
likely to be very soon. si
The troops at Paducah have been under
marching orders several times, lately. 1t
was confidently expected that the whole
Division would move Monday morning, but
Sunday night the order to march was coun-
fernandez. No one is allowed to leave
Paducah, except to go to Evansville or
Cairo. Persons who visit Paducah from
the interior, are not permitted to return,
and over one hundred unhappy mortals
have thus been caught in "Gen. Smiths
trap" In some instances, the head of the
family has visited town, and being detained
another member has followed to ascertain
the cause Of the detention. In this way
whole families have been "baggedi and, al
though it is considered good joke to out
siders, it is very serious matter. to people
who are thus cooped mp in Paducah, many
OF them without means of support When
the troops move, the blockade will be
raised. Two gunboais are stationed off Padu-
cah-the Lexington and Conestoga-and if
Fort Beauregard is to be taken, they Will
assist in the good work.
The Union men of the First District, are
bitter in their denunciations of the manner
in which seceSssionists are allowed to pur-
chase goods in this city. We are confident
that while there is, no doubt, ground for
complaint the quantity of goods sent from
here has been over-estimared. 1t is hardly
necessary to state that every man who re-
ceives permit to ship goods from this port,
oOnvinces Major Robinson that ne is
"good Union man" In some cases this is
done by straightforward lying on the part
OF the man himself and the merchant who
seeks TO sell him the goods. We are driven
to the conclusion that some merchants in
this city, have deliberately deceived the
Surveyor, in many instances, for the pur-
pose of selling paltry bills of goods. The
merchant who wonld be guilty of such con-
duct, is infinitely meaner than the traitor
who seeks to purchase We. know that
goods 60 out of the city in wagons, without
permits, and it is difficult to interfere with
this trade, unless guards are kept at all the
roads leading from the city. Last Satar-
day, two barrels Of -four were shipped from
clothing store, in a wagon. They were
out Of reach before the Surveyor could ex-