Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1863-03-06
LATE FROM THE SOUTH.


OF ITS SUCCESS.
A letter appears in the Richmond Enquirer
from an eminent engineer officer, to the follow
ing effect:
ain presence of the general feeling of unea-
sness produced by the cutting of the canal
opposite Yicksburg by the Yankees, it might
be a relief to our friends to know that, rs far
as their purpose of turning the Mississippi
away from Vicksburg is concerned, it will
prove failure which is founded on the fol-
lowing facts
ain April, 1859, the Mississippi river rose
to n height never known before, and a crevasse
or break in the levee took place at the planta-
ton of Colonel White, about thirteen miles
above Vicksburg. The rush of water was ire
mendous the whole country for many miles
was submerged, and the Vicksburg and Mon
roe railroad washed away. A strange feature
of The case was that the river ran through that
part of the country as if it had been canal,
race-course, or cutoff, of which the crevasse
was the head, and some point below was the
mouth, for the water that had run inland
through the crevasse ran out again from it to
the river about one mile below Vicksburg.
"The crevasse was not closed, and when the
water subsidized the river returned to its own
bed again, and so will the present canal do
"This singular phenomenon was owing to
the fact that below the alluvial soil lay layer
eff stiff blue clay which cannot be washed
away by the action of water. Below that layer
clay, which is about seven to ten feet deep,
and lies about six to nine feet below the sur
face of the soil, comes the quicksand-and it
is only when the water comes in contact with
! that quicksand that there is danger Of abra-
sion by the action Of the current on it.
Had the Yankees cut their canal to depth
sufficient to reach the strata of quieksand, the
/ Mississippi would certainly have cut its way
through the channel offered and left Vicks-
| burg an inland city but they went to work
! prompted by their malice only, and never
thought of acquain.ing themselves with the
| geology of our Mississippi lands. They only
saw one thing they wanted to pass their
| transports down the river in order to quiet the
/ trouble of the West, and as Vicksburg was in
I the wsty, and they could not take it, they I'M
! dertook to make cutoff; bit they were ig-
norant OF the nature of the soil they had TO
| deal with, and failed in accomplishing their
| object-showing once more to the world that
science aud knowledge are necessary in every
enterprise, even in digging canal"
! THE ATTACK on CHARLESTON OR SAVANNAH.
The Beaufort Is. c. correspondent of the
N Tribune, writes under date of the oath
instant, in relation to the expected attack on
Charleston or Savannah, as follows:
| Quartermasters tell us that everything in
their department is ready Commissaries have
on hand food and rations sufficient to last I'M
til some important city has been reduced; yes
sells deeply laden with coal and water are con-
tinually arriving, the vast fleet Of gunboats
and their attendant transports are asking for
nothing more, the Monitors are all upon the
ground, and every whee., and crank, and
/ bolt, and turret, in the smooihest working or
/ der. Cen. Hunter and Admiral Dupont both
! represent their respective departments ready
! 1t cannot, therefore, be many days before this
/ important expedition will set sail and com
mence operations upon Charleston or Savan-
nah or perhaps both
/ The leading officers Of this expedition, those
1 who are supposed to know its exact strength
and upon whom also devolves the duty of
/ knowing that of the enemy, are ssnguine of
success Only among very few subordinate
officers have we heard it doubted and they
know almost nothing Of our actual strength
and the obstacles we have 10 contend with.
ARRESTS. We have been informed that, on
Saturday last, four strange men were arrested
in this place and sent to the Old Capital prison
at Washington, by the squad of Federal casal-
ry stationed here. They acknowledged that
they had lately come from Richmond, AID had
on their persons sixteen thousand dollars, part
of it gold, which the Provost Marshal for this
county took in charge, and has since paid
over to the proper authorities.
Mr.. WILLIAM VALDESAR, a young man, Of
Berry District, in this county, was also ar
rested by some of the same party, on Satur-
dov NIGHT at the residence of an acauaintancp
in this neighborhood. Mr. v, We understand,
is suspected of having gone to Virginia to es-
cape the draft bat his friends insist that he
has not been beyond the limits Of the State
It is scarcely probable that this young man
would have made his re-appearance in COM
munity where, he must have known, his ap-
prehcnsion would be certain, if there we're the
slightest foundation for a charge against him