New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1863-10-06

The Army Actively mt Werk-Thc Navy
ne Yet Pnssive-The New Line Of Hat.
tcriss Noon TO be Opened-Interesti"g
Experimsnts with the Greek Fire-Thr
Firing frsm the Rebel Bati~ries-Dir'
sasisfne lion OF the Riny-feurth Mnssa-
sbv.eu. NJ sheir Pay-Anesher Cow
IN, ae, nm the Part Of the Rebels.

L
Moxris ISLAND $ C.. Sept, p. lsol
The Army j. active; the Fleet Is passive
Such 1. oorclsc statement, u Affairs In this Depart
neat slnoo TIE lai ndviccs sent you AZ 20 what th'
army Is doing. l am ealoincd By General Orders No
60 not 10 explain Tie Intelligence would be Of lii,l'
n.sfcs, 10 any but ogr Rebel nclglbors on whose DO
.ai HE TIrni w does no, maintain correspondents
10Y rrlrt news Gen Gilmore has his own excellent
,casons for pos,poning active operations against ID,
,ney and li. army Is 10 idle than Il was durire
De terod immediately preceding the opening Of hi
,ai,efles rpon Folly Island against Morris Island On
course We know that defensive and offensive operations
arsn.i ourselves are being carried on by the Rebels
AID We have heard ard read that Lonesree,s division
Il ~ 90 men have reached Charleston, but Of the truth
- tia rumor have no means 81 satisfying our
s.ses. Certain IL u that sgnier fired salute The
zane day that artillery hailed the Commandor IN
chat 81 the Union Forces rs Major General Tia,
,Amc night there wac cessation OF hre ron inc
Rebel batteries on Forts Wagner and Gregg and. IN
consequence the engineers and ~orkihg paIu,s uu
very largo smoun, u work In those stronghold Be'
fofc iAs letter l. IN print semi circle 81 IRE VIII helch
forth from Morris Island upon all the Rebel works that
our batteries command. Thereto tend all the Titanic
abors o gun moving and digging amid which We
dwell Tho official history 81 the siege OF Charleston.
when written viii b. more fascinating than romance
IN ,eritahe incidents Of Hcrculran works conceived
By Gen Gilmore and executed by BIS officers ana men.
who hold their commander IN enthusiastic esteem.
on tie 25th. Fort Johnston exploded sh.u over Fort
Wagner which blew up two ammunition boxes ieit by
the Rebels 10 their fight last month Immediately the
parapet II the Rebel work Was covered BY anxious
pccators who evidently thought that the report had
proceeded from full magazine Of theirs remaining IN
iart In our POSSESSION You may cordially congratulate
them that their property remains unchanged and that
IL viii be- duly returned Ia them in the original small
and enient packages by the swcsi hines OF trans
poriaton-brcakage 10 be nj their own FISK n iah
attendance If Southern witnesses 81 Northern proby
cInlnsutly desirable. due tcldf
should be- given to H.
You have been informed tha, Greek fire was thrown
into the City Of Charleston but this inimaton Is 10
be- understood having been made IN the past tense
only Public curiosity has been much excited upon
this subject. especially among the trsorous inhapt
will be gratihcd In due time. Indeed the new " sen
sation" Is likely to enjoy but short lived popularity
among them Your correspondent yesterday witnessed
some experiments with this new incendiary agent col
culatcd 10 determine rhofh0 II could ea1s' premature
srIlo,i0Es Of sAeNs containing a.. Nine shells were
fred from 20 FOUNDER PARROT gun into the sea Oh
these contained each 10 the small TN tubes IN hen
the Greek fire Is packed In addition tn the bursting
charge of powder. The other seven had each four
tnbcs of the iniammabe article The FIRST shot had
charge Of ten tubes. This had wooden plug instead
LOT fuse. IL fell into the water without exploding.
Tie second containing ten tubes with 5sccond fuse
p0ded about $50 feet from the gun and deemed
violence Of premature by the Captain ofofd'
nance In command who declared thn the shell should In
Ave seconds travel at least 90 feet To this Mr.
Short the proprietor Of the Greek ire objected that the
fuse might have been defective, impcriccty adjusted
Accordingly he invited to the remaining fuses
placed in the shells The Sergeant performing this duty
carefully filled them In with white lead 10 prevent leak
age II gas into the shell from the chamber Of the
by the ignition u the powder therein This prccauton
taken the seven remaining shells discharged In
succession. with the results though they had
been only ordinarily charged. varons elevations were
tried with 5sccond 10 second. and II second fuses,
most Of the shells exploding in tho air when thcif fuses
lad burned through the others falling, uneapo1eo in'o
he sea- owing to the depression OF the gun Inc nse
hot and the ast hrcd. proved that Greek nrc
did not had been charged explode the shells prehn'
hrely This all that required to Do proven ny
te experiment. ,.
Ofthe ncendlary power Of the Greek fire, your cor
respondent enabled TO Judge by igntns some nm
@lf and thrustDg II alternately into "aier anu s,'u.
Several seconds immersion In either was ihenectun W
atinguish the flame. Another tube thrown uhue'
water on the beach was exhausted Oh lts contents.
?he thick pitchy smoke that dubbed up through ,he
water continued minutes, to prove tnt COMBUSTION
diu went on. A third tube WAS hred ana pulied On
tc beach, the wet sand being stamped ana pressed Gu
oil sides Of IT, 90 chat the air was excluded from 'ae
fame. In four minutes 1t was dug up ana iound 10
have quite burned out substance that WIZ pufh TWO
minutes inexnguishabe by any Of the apphaheet orul
Iarily at hand must be very dangerous ihcenui"iy
- -. ClelAs.s sa0W ~. &c .aAySS-s Ss'ss." s~s-