Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1863-09-02

mics Of the Union, the NATIONAL Intel
iiyencer, the leading whig organ 10 the
U. s., says:
:" All who wonld divert the war from
its only legitimate and constitutional OBJ
ject are "the enemies Of the Union"
aud, as such, whatever may be their So
cial or political standing, mu.t encounter
thu oppositioa OF enlightened patriots.
All who would distract the public atten.
ton from the paramount aim Of the gov
eminent, by prqpounding novel and rev.
dictionary doctrines ~ = motive Of mil
itaro operatians, which can be legally or
successfully prosecuted only under tho
Constitution that arms the naiion--sll
who indulge in such disorganiziDg spec
ulations are sowing the seeds Of discord
broadcast over the land. Those, tor in
stance, who, with William Whiting, Esq.
the Solicitor Of tho War Department,
announces that the war has reached .
stage in which, $50 flr Is this govern.
neot il concerned, oil State lines are OBJ
liberated" in the rsbellous district, ATE
men who, whether they know it or not,
are both theoretically and practically
"the actual aidcrs add abettors Of the
Coufederates." They are revolutionists
just - truly as the men against whom
the nation is in arms, and though their
disloyslty takes on different form, it is
none the less overt, and tends practical.
" to fatal concurrence with the de-
signs and hopes Of the armed sedi.ioD.
Greek Fire.
1t is said-thsre is no telling how
truthfnlIy-that Gen. GiImero hss been
throwing shells into Charleston charged
with Greek fire, and that Gen. Beaurc.
gard has demonstrated against the use
Of this ." villainous compound" Tho
secret Of the preparation and use Of
Greek fire was preserved by the Romans
Of the East for four hundred year., tho
dlrcst vengeance being imprecated upon
whomsocver should divulge its compo-
sition. The Mohammedans finally OBJ
tanned tho secret, and turned the art
against the christians in the holy wars
Of Syria and Egypt. lfppcsrs to have
been a compound Of bitnmen,' sulphur
and pitch, poured from caldrons, or pro-
jected in fire balls, or on arrows or jave-
Inns, around which flax was twisted, sat
urated with tho iniamable compound.
The fire went through the air like a
winged longtailed dragon" perhaps
not unlike our sky-reckets.
Greek fire used also to be called liquid
and maritime fire burning even under
water, and that with even greater VIC.
leuce than out Of it, being only extin-
guishable with vinegar mixed with sand
or by covering with raw hides. 1t takes
its name from being used by the Greeks
in the year 600. The inventor was an
engineer Of HeIiepolis, in Syria, named
Callinicus, who first applied it in the sea
fight near Cyzicus, in the Hcllespont,
and with such success that he burnt the
whole fleet of the SaraeeEs, wherein
there were thirty thousand mcB. Its use
was continued till about the middle of
the l4th century, when the compound
OF nitre, sulphur and charcoal effected .
new revolution in the art OF war and
history Of mankind. An old writer des-
cribes the composition OF the Greed fire
as formed by mixing over the fire the
charcoal Of willow, nitre, rosin, brandy,
sulphur, pitch and camphor. A wsolen
cord is then plunged into the mixture
and made into balls. The subject is
fully treated in work by Scoffern, pub
lished in London in 1853, called Pro
.jectile weapons Of war and Explosive
Compounds" in which he names several
liquid mixtures that spontaneously ignite
and may be used for the same purposes
as Greek tire.-Mo. Republican.