New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1864-02-24
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GEEEM FggE.
There is nothing ike giving a modern inven'
ton a sonorous and clas name. The subtle
preparation which is to mako the bad-hedded as
hirsutc as Esau would not be half so proyoca'
tive Of capillary fertility, because it would not
he half 50 often used, If il rejoiced in title less
Attic than "Tricopherous." The liquid in
fammation which Gen. Gilmore either has %
has rot spirited into Charleston would not have
appeared half so formidable and'fierce, at least
in the tcegraphic dispatches, il We had not also
been informed that the incendiary agent en-
plOyed was Greek Frc--a secret miraculously
res torcd from tho receptacle OF things lost on
earth the identical liniment with which the
Saracen defenders Of Jerusalem singed and bis
tered the hides of I.ion-hearted Richard and bis
unfortunate crusaders. Tor many centuries
classical snt'1lnriss hayc cudge'ed their brains
\ 10 find ont what the Greek i ire really was, and
the most they have been able to learn OF it was
rather than else unpleasant to stand under a
shower Of It, and that II was unlike other fires
in respect Of being unquenchable by water.
/ All we can find out OF this remorseless kindling
is, that its preparation was a state secret at
! Constantinople, and exceeding well the tir-
baned Turks appear TO have kept IL. Chemists
guess TINT in the preparation of the mysterious
combustible, sulphur and nitrate Of potash and
naphtha must have been employed, which may
or may not be good guessing. Oar Greek Fire,
although we have all these materials, does not
yet appear to have raised asingle blisterupon any
Confederate cuticle, or TO have reduced TO ashes
O single Confederate domicil. The only thing
which has been kindlcd in the indignation OF
our beloved British oensors, who have dcscanted
upon American barbarism learnedly, classically,
scientifically, bcneYolently, sarcastically, and
in every possible way, except sensibly. a tenn
perate rebuke upon 50 calorife subject, we
had no good reason perhaps to expect; and to
pepper secondhand tradition ont Of Gibbon and
Beekmnn, was necessary perhaps TO give relish
to British diatribss. But haste may sometimes
be unfortunately hot; and before we received
our consignment TO the limbo Of the Middle
Ages, would it not have been well for these
newspaper inquisitors to have established the
Get, that Gen. Gilmore has actually used this
same savage artlclei If London cockney SO
CLOVIS, and roasts and slzzles and sputters. un-
der the influence Of an imaginary Greek Fire,
we cannot help fancying how exceedingly brown
he would soon be done, if he were subjected 10
tho torrid and tcasting effects Of the genuine
and Enthusiastically classical camphene.
From all We can learn of the ancient Greek
Fire, it was decidedly uncomfortable thing to
come in contact with-it smothered its unior-
tunate victim with its smoke--it deafened him
with its exploson--it fried him in its 1ame--it
flew through the air ike long-tailed dragon,
"about the thickness Of hogshead, with the
report of thunder and the velocity Of lightning"
1T was projected from immense blow-pipes.
Some say that 1t was made Of sulphur, resin and
oil-some say, Of sulphur and saltpeter and
something else unknown; but as we do not
know what the ancient resin was, We derive no
very intense satisfaction from the first conjecture
Modern Greek Fire IL made in various ways
of honey, sugar, -four, lamp-black, Sulphate
of magnesa, spirits Of turpentine, acid of nlter
biaulphido of carbon, naphtha.
The very list Of these articles has an incendiary
appearance, and there seems to be no reason
why they should not, judiciously mixed and
carefully emptied into house, make that house
a dwelling-pacc too fervid for any occupants
except salamanders. In addition to this chemical
treat, one English writer proposes to fire gases
into beleaguered town, which shall plung call
the defenders thereof into a deep sleep, until
the stronghold is captured, when all the inhab-
itants viii wake up, fresh and lively, only to
find themselves prisoners Of war. If Gen. Gill
moro has any of this last-namcd mcrciful prepa.
ration In his laboratory, we trust that he viii
fumigate Charleston with it at once; for who
can cay that rampant 6ecessionist might not
70 to slecl "a ineouigibls political simon aud