The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1864-10-22

LATTER FROM JERB CLE4BNe.-A lobt0l
from Jere Clemens, formerly United States
Senator from Alabama, has just beeen pub
lished. 1t is dated at Philadelphia, tins
month. Referring to the hope held ont to
the South in McClellan's election, ne
The election Of Mcclellan, if tina. were
possible, would only prolong the war, and
make the desolatiOn of your land more
complete. He might suspend military op-
erations for time, and negotiate for peac,
but the only terms Jefferson Davis will
ever offer him will be such a. he dare not
accept. Mr.. Davis has no idea OF abdica-
ting his sovereignty; and il Mcclellan
were so mad as to accede to hss demands,
his own residence would soon be less
comfortable one than the White House at
Washington. From this source. therefore,
you have nothing to expect but still greater
restitution and prolonged misery-evlls, 1t
is true, which will be shared in some de-
gree by the North; but that is poor con-
ISOLATION. The plain and direct road to a
peace is before you. You need not consult
Mr.. Davis, or Mr.. Lincoln, or Mr.. McClel-
Ian on the subject. You went out by sepa-
rate State action; you can come back in
the same way. In the Southern Confede-
racy, at least, there ought to be no denial
of your right to do so. 1t was the doctrine
the leaders iuculcated when they wished
you to please them by going out OF the
Union, and they cannot object to It when
you wish to please yourselves by going in.
This is your remedy-a remedy independ-
ent Of the will or wishes of those who are
compromised too deeply to expect ready
forgiveness, and who wish to make you
the sharers of their own destiny, provided
always that destiny is calamitous.
RELATIVE BEsrRUcTIvENEss OF Scot
ANDNSHELL.-M. Dufour, a Surgeon OF the
French Navy, has published an interesting
account of the wounded seamen who were
brought to the naval hospital at Cher bourg,
after the engagement between the Alabama
and the Kearsage. One Of the remarks
suggested by reading NJ. Dufour's state
ment is that the greater number Of wounds
were caused, not by the cannon shot or
shell, but by splinters from the ship.
It has been observed by naval surgeons
that since the use Of shells in naval enga-
gements the destruction of human life has
been much greater than when round shot
alone was used. 1t has been learned from
the same sea engagement that it is an error
20 suppose that the plating OF wooden ships
protects the crew from splnters scattered
about.
The increasing caliber of guns used in
modern warfare requires greater number
one shot may cause moro destruction by
striking compac, group Of men. This
was the case on board the Alabama. A
shell fred from tho Kearsarge, falling
among l9 men who were serving one Of the
Alabama's guns, killed or wounded fifteen.
The Alabama fred altogether 30 shots,
Of which the greater number were fred
from how;tzers. There were but 162 shots
fired by the Kearsarge. Nobody appears
to have been killed by the round shot; all
the injury was inflicted directly or indl-
recUy by the shells.
The Captain Of the Kearsarge very soon
ceased firing from his four 32-pounders,
which produced little effect, and used his
two l1-ineh howitzers and rif1ed % pOun-
der placed forward. The victory was gain
ed by those three pieces alone.