Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1863-04-15
The Powaer-Hill: = shs Confsaeraae

u
From the Cincinnati EnqaiTerl
:. The London Times Of March 18Th, has an
other direct correspondence from The rebe
States. dated Augusta, January 26th It i
written in the usual style Of the Confsderat
eorrespondeucss Of the Times more eulogisti
Of the rebels than even the rebel papers AZ
themselves. The following aee0nnt Of thi
powder-mills established By the Confederate
government contains some valuable intorma
ton:
When. upon the 18Th Of April, 1861, Fort
Sumter surrendered 70 General Besursgard and
the C9nfsderstes, not one single pound Of gun
powder was anywhere manufactured in the Con
Z fsdeTscY. a rigorous blockade Of the seap0rts
Of the South was immedistely commenced
through which the principal Ingredient Of gun
powder (saltpaler) had to be largely sucked in.
AT this iuncture it seemed advisable to President
Davis to intrust to Colonel Ranes, formerly an
officer Of the United States army, the responsi-
bility Of planning sad building large govern
/ ment mill for the mapuiactura Of gunp0W-
der. For this post Colonel Rains possessed en-
inent qualifications. BE had been professor Of
chemistry at West Point and for some years.
since ieSving the army, he had been 81 the head
4 Of Some large iron works 81 NswbuTg, on the
l Hudson. Augusta, in GeOrgis, was selected as
the site Of the intended niil snd never, both as
regards the person and the situation pitched
I upon, was happier ssgaeity eYinced by the Pres
/ ldent Following so far as he Was acquainted
with it, the plan upon which the gunpowder
mill al Waltham Abbey, belonging 70 the Eng
I lsh government, Is built Colonel Rains pro
/ ceeded to construct the work necessary for his
purpose; and the success Wb ,sh has attended bis
/ Efforts has been such as could never lave been
/ believed before the pressure Of war and privs-
/ ton had awakened Southern ingenuity and en-
tsrprise. The result is that at the cost Of about
600, one Of the most perfect guupowder
mills in the world has been produced, which
turns cut FIVE thousand pounds of powder per
Z day, and could produce double that amount, if
worked day and night, and much more if worked
under the e1igency Of pressing demand.
The cost Of this powder, in spite of TIT INST
hness of the saltpetsr which has been int acsd
through the blockade, is about four Is a
J pound, which is about the same as its st 10
EnglaLd. The mill has now been constantly at
work for many months, and, consequently,
more powder than the Confsderacy is likely 10
require for years 10 come has already been pro
dueed. There is another government powder
mil At Columbia, in S9ath Carolina, working,
believe, 60 supply the wants mot very large
as yeti Of the Confederate navy. But al the
gunpowdeT issued for the service Of the Con
fsdersts armies Of Virgins and the West and
also for the defense of Charleston and Vicks-
burg, has come out Of the mill at Augusta; and
it was stated 10 me by an ordnance officer in
Charleston that the powder which he had re-
Gently received there and tested was very nearly.
if not entirely, up to the standard Of the finest
English manufacture.
Tho extreme delibeTGton with which the
Confederate government has engaged in many
lsrgs and costly undertakings, requiring long
time for their completion and much ingenuity
in their design, is the best earnest Of the quiet
ness and confidence with which they have from
the very commencement looked ct their inds-
pendsnce as at a thing which they could not
fail to obtain. These government powder mills
at Columbia and Augusta are by no means the
sole achievements Of the Coniedersses at homs
in support of their soldiers in the field Il msy
be noticed in the North, although the necessity |
for the erection Of government powder mill has !
often been represented 70 the War Department /
at Washington, suOh mill has ever been /
erected It has been found that private interests
have been too strongly represented in Congress !
TO admit Of the withdrawal Of the government /
patronage from the great private firms in Con |
pechcut and Delaware, between which it is, / l
believe, divided. Ia hundreds Of matters that
necessity, which was thought by the North
certain TO crush the Southern power Of rssis
tsnce, has but developed an energy for which
the world, and especially England, was very 1t
tie prepared
Ru.-eH 90 Lineola.
The following letter Of Earl Russell to Lord
Lyons, is the most sUecinet and eEustic criti-
cism upon Lineoln's emancipation we have yet
scent
EARL RUSSELL To LORD LYONS
FOREIGE OFFICE, January ~ 1863.
Ny LORD The proclamation Of the Presi- 1
dent Of the Unified States, ineossd in your lord
ships dispatch of the 2d inst, appears to be Of
q very strange nature.
II Processes to 9rnsncipate all slaves in pl0ces
where the United States authorities cannot exer-
else any jurisdiction nor make emancipation 8
reality, bnt It does not decree emancipation Of |
slaves in any State or parts Of States occupied /
by Fsdsrsl troops, and subject to United States |
jurisdiction, and where therefore, emancipation, /
if deereed, might have been carried into effect
Ii would seem 10 follow that in the border |
States, and also in New Orleans, slave owner /
may recover his fugitive slave by the ordinary /
process of law but that in the ten States in /
which the emancipation deeTees emancipation, /
fugitive slave arrested by legal warrant may re- /
sist, and his resistance, if successful, is to be
upheld and aided by the United States aUthori- |
ties and the United States armed forces.
The proclamation, therefore, makes slavery at |
once legal and Illegal and makes slaves either /
punishable for running away from their masters /
or entitled to be supported and encouraged in 80 /
doing according TO the locality Of the plantation
to which they belong, and the loyalty Of the 4
State in which they msy happen to be.
There seems to be no declaration Of princi-
pie adverse to slavery in the proclamation It /
is measure Of war, and s measure Of war Of \
very questionable kind
As President Lincoln has twice appealed to
the judgment of mankind in his proclamation, l
venture to say do not think it can or ought TO
satisfy the friends Of abolition. who look gor to-
tai and impartial freedom for the slave, and not 4
for vengeance on tie slave owner.
/ am, etc,
LSigned] RUssELL