Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-09-14
IFT0m &c Boston JeuFaal.l

FhE Ths ehsuldE 6f CharIsaIon vEns DIss
LFrom the Boston Journal
"a A gentltmhn cf mueh intslligence, re-
emily from Morris Island, where he had
snusual facilities for observation and gath
afiag informstion, has communicated TO
Es variety Of interesting facts connect
ID with the siege Of Charleston, which
throw much light on the state Of affairs
here. BE informs ns that thereason Why
General Gilmore did not continue his bonn
bardment Of Charleston with the Greek
dFe shells, was because the shells sent
were ignited on the psfcussi0l principle,
and being discharged from q gun at an ell
Of thirty eigh degrses took their
Hight ct the saI1o anele with aloneitudi-
nal rotary motion, bsse downward, and
therefore struck base doWnWard instead Of
upon the percussion end, did not explode.
Only two are known to have exploded-
one which fell into q warehouse and anoth-
sr which fell n the street. This peculiar
motion and descent Of the she'll was a new
discovery in artillery practice, then for
the hrst time made, and the ordnance de.
partment was not furnished with g reme-
dy fer the unlo6ked-foF contingency. To
this feet alone Charleston owes the delay
Of the houf of is dd6n. Hlt
Time fuses, which will sat matters all
right, were ct once sent for, and have
doubtless arrived at Norris Island before
this, and very likely C6sFAestOn is at this
moment experiencing the dreadful effects
Of shower Of HGreek FIRE shells, fifteen
hundred Of which have keen ordered for
the bombaFdment Of that nest Of treason.
{ The gun from which the shells were first
fred was 200-Ponndsr PARROT, which can
throw 8 shell no less than seven miles
when aimed ct an angle of forty-fye de.
grees. The first shells went over Charles
ton, the gun being aimed at too sharp an
angle. Our readers will be pleased to
learn that General Gilmore has no less
than thirty Psrrott guns mounted that
viii throw shells plamp into Charleston.
Also that the use Of Greek fire shells to
lombard that rebel stronghold was per.
sonslly ordered By President Lincoln. The
Greek hrc burns for twenty minutee It
will burn on the weter IS well as on land,
ahd each shell eoFeFsa surface Of one hum
dred square feet with fame. The she'll
bursts into about one hundred and twenty
pieces or ten times as many as the ordi-
nary she'll OF course the effect Of these
which nothing can subdue ass IS 10
In addition TO the Greek FIRE shells,
large quantity Of Improved shrapnel shells
made by the inventor Of the Greek fire
shell, and containing from i've hundred to
one thousand bullets each, have been sent !
70 Morris Island, to be transferred thence |
into the rebellious city in manner not |
very pleasing TO the enemy, These shells
are fred with time fuses, and are very de- |
struetive Of life. The celebrated 300 I
p9under Parrot gun which Gen. Gilmore
has weighs 1900 pounds. 1t took 2 coo |
men nine nights to get the monster into /
position, the drag teams breaking down |
seven nights IN succession, the enemy |
shelling the party all the while, and men |
being killed nightly. Nothing was done /
with 1t by day the gun being covered with
bushes to conceal 10 from the enemy's FIRE. |
The diameter Of the bore is ten inches, the
charge Of powder 25 pounds, and the she'll
inst goes outo It as high ss -four bar
rel, weighs 300 pounds, and eontains II /
pounds Of mortar POWDER The execution I
Of one Of these shells OF, Sumter is consid-
cred equal 70 three 200 pound shells. Bat
two Of these immense riAed guns have been
made, although twenty more have been or
dered for the army. None have been or
dered for the navy.
General Gilmore at hrat had only one,
but another has just been sent to him. The
SO0-pounder when it exploded was in
chsFge Of an infantry captain who had
never fired cannon before in his life.
he WAS cautioned that some accident would
happen IL he was not careful. On the
tWenty-hfth round, the she'll, containing
seventeen pounds Of powder, was filed,
the percussion fuse was screwed halfway
down, sRd could not be got any further.
when the Captain said, " Let it go at that"
The consequences wes that when disoharg-
cd, the IRE communicated down by the
thread to the she'll, causing tho latter to
explode before It left the gun, and break
ing of twenty inches Of the muzzle. The 5
gun was repaired and get ready for use
lgain in two days. 1t burst on Friday at T.
twelve O'clock, and WEs firing again On
Sunday ss well as ever. These guns have
been fired With forty pounds Of powder,
md sent ball through nine inches OF
WTOught-iron plates and two feet of oak
timber by which The iron was backed. It
has also sent ball through tWenty-sixf feet
II earth. The larger a gun having rifle
bore is made, the gteadier and truer the ]
bali or shell is sent-indeed, the ACCURACY
II rife is attsined. Ai s--ia
Mr.. 2. P, PsTrott, the Inventor of these
yuns, commenced making them in 1856. +
It his own expense, continuing his exper- [
Dents without aid from the Government
I'll the rebellion broke cut He then be-
an to make l0-pounders, and haT nov
lavanced from that small beginning to I
.OO-PoundeTs, snd-n sucoessful will try ;
! 1OOo-pounder. Over 500 Of these guns
ave been made BY Mr.. Parrot, who fur Il
Ilshes themlata. less cost than the Gov
Tnment can make them at its own foun-h
lriesi indeed supplying them at q triss
Dove cost depending upon shells which
e furnishes to the Government bE his
rohts. Another fa0t which is very cred
able to him is, that when the price MI Z
ION and Of labor sdvanced he d;d moi
Aise his prices, although ~ ,bs other
'uadries in the eOuHsry Ala kbout tbiF-
mara "a 80 ans, ranging from three I
:. vsesS' - pound ,csliher, are turned
= .tv ct Mr.. ParTott's establishment I
Vest Point Foundry, st Cold Springs, Ri
3eW York. ----
The demand foreride cannon is non so
great that the foundriss of this country
re unable to supply them, and extensive
,rders are sent to Europe. The Slate Of
alone has ordered seventy
from abroad. ss-.i.-...' -.
On Sunday night the family Of @. j. KO-
mar, Esq-s were disturbed by the crying Of
3 shild; upon going into the yard they
found male infant, apparently about two
weeks old; carefully wrapped up id q bian- |
ket The child was taken 70 the HnAFmary,
l-hera IL vstil4,a fSl4en cara az for 'flSa Trea