The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1863-09-16

oy the rebels with much effect Ii was in posi-
uon ON Cummings Point near the present To-
cality OF Battery Gregg, and is said to have
aohe excellent work s-slnss the gorge wall Of
sumter. although Of small calbre During the
iaii OF 1860 the State of Virginia was fur
nished with several field batteries of ten FOUNDER
farrott guns for State defence These guns
were hrst used against us at Sewall's Point and
Aqua Creek, in May and June, 1861, and at that
time gave sufficient proof OF their immense
power and range by far exceIling the long
thirtytwo-pounder and nine-inch Dahlgren gun
| in use on board om vessels AT the last en-
gagement with the Aqua Creek batteries, in
which the United States steamer Pawnee par
ticipated, small rided gun was used on board
that vessel, which is probably the first instance
where rifed ordnance was used by the forces Of
the United States against an enemy. The thir-
| ty-pounder Parrot gun was probably first used
at the first battle Of Bull run. During the sum-
mer Of 1861 number Of eighty FOUNDER
rifles were manufactured at the Washing
ton Navy Yard on the plan and under
| the superintendent of Admiral Dahlgren
The one hundred-pounder PARROT gun was
first used at the siege of Yorktown and on
board the steamer WestGeld in the operations
of Admiral Farragut on the Mississippi river.
Heavy rifed guns were mounted and used in
Fort Pickens during the two bombardments of
the rebel positions at Forts McRae and Bar
rancas and Pensacola Navy Yard Since then
they have come into general use both afoat
and ashore, and have been increased in size
from the light field gun, throwing projecti!e
Of ten pounds in weight, to the enormous
"Swamp Angel now in battery on Morris
Island, which sends bolt weighing three hum
dred pounds to distance Of ten thousand five
hundred and sixty yards, or six miles,
| Thus 1t will be seen that in the short space
of thirty-one months an entire revolution has
taken place in the character of ordnance used
both in naval and military operations; and
where, in 1861, high authority stated that a
| bombardment Of Charleston from Fort Sumter
was an impossibility, now is it not only pos
sible, but we can with ease, at distance far
| greater, not only destroy Charleston, but COM
pei the enemy to abandon any position he may
| take mile beyond it. Indeed, a trial was re-
| Gently made of new piece Of ordnance called
the Ferris gun, and the report states that
| range of niue miles was obtained If this is
the case an enemy's ship ,oW be ,oiutin range
before her hull is in sight above the horizon; for,
account of the curvature Of the earth, the hull
of one ship does not come in sight of person
on the deck of another until within distance
of seven miles.
Such is the range being obtained that we
may expect in little while to be bombarded
successfully by guns entirely removed from
sight and out Of hearing; enabling us to OBJ
tain knowledge Of the enemy's position only
from the direction in which the projectiles
come Verify, we live in wonderful age
The Park-Its Innuo.ce Upon All Glasses
in This City.
Paris boasts of her Bots de Boulogne, which
is indeed marvel Of what taste and lavish ex-
penditure can do towards embellishng nature;
London revels in the possession Of Hyde Park,
where every day during that portion Of the
year yclept "the season" may be seen the noblest
and the fairest of England's daughters and her
| most arstocratic and manly scions New York
|Ais not one jot behind these capitals of the Old
World in enterprise and taste, and she has
her Park, the rendezvous Of all classes in
the city, the breathing place, the great lung Of
this immense, busy human hive.
But few years since the present site Of the
Park was barren rocky waste; now it Is
garden, filed with flowers, with trees with
beautiful vines creeping over the gray rocks.
with lakes, on the ripping bosoms Of which |
gondolas glide gracefully. Swans, with their
beautiful arched necks glstening in the rays of
the bright autumnal sun, add picturesque eff
feet to the beautiful ensemble, while once a week
delicious music ia discoursed in bright pagoda,
around which you see crowded the vehicles of
the wealthy. and the masses who find their en-
joyment Of the music not decreased because
they sit on the grass to hear it, instead Of loll
ing on velvet or damask cushions. One and
all seek the beautiful Park with q sensation Of
pleasure which is ever increasing, because the
taste for the beautiful grows upon what1t is
fed, and because the beauties of the Park
are ever being added to. In years to come II
will be very Eden in this busy marta place
Of retirement from the throng and the noise OF
the city where the weary may rest and the
oppressed breathe freely.
| A vast influence is exerted upon all classes
| in New York by the Park Some time since.
when our brokers and bankers took their pas
time they did so boisterousy. They drove
light wagons on the avenues, stopped at the
| drinking shops and INDUCED in smashes and
juleps, and then issued forth to drive races and
get smashes less agreeable than those above re.
ferred to. And these bankers and brokers went
about all this in rowdy manner. They were
ungloved, covered with dust, and talked and
swore loudly were rough initiated jockeys,
talked horse, chewed tobacco and got tipsy
The Park has changed all this These same
bankers aud brokers are now seen in the Park