Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1864-02-19

I or Of the Sftte OF New lork.
The unjust and unwarrantable assertion Of tn
gentleman from New York respecting New Eng
land merits and meets nv hearty contempt
New England needs no vindication from the as
piratons Of the defenders Of treason, or the ad
vocates of human bondage. Her - eyry build
eth in the cedsr's top, and dallies with the win
. and scorns the sun " Her soil i made sacrel
by the inst blood Of the Revolution. Liberty
was first cradled upon her bosom, aud the his
tory OF her sons is written upon scroll which
/ aDprehend the gentleman will never reach
Her was the first martyr Of this goddess rebel
lion, and she viii stand in the front ranks, witt
all her men and all her money, until the Govern
meut shall be restored and the old flag shal
iioat in triumph over our entire Union, redeemed
regeuerated and disinthralled from the curse Of
American slavery
NEwmsv, NORTH CRoLINA.-trom the
interesting letters Of &c Vermont in the
Tmes. we make the following extracts
Newbcrn .New-Eeue d, now the accepted way
of writing It IT sn the army heldquarters,) is
situated on the neck OF land formed by the juno
tiou of the Trent and Neuse rivers The city
stands in los. level, but dry and sandy soil; Is
very well built. mostly OF wood, but has some
good brick dwelling There are several church
es. and. altogether, the town IS much better
built than many Of the southern cities.
Every street is beautifully shaded by magnif-
cent old elms, regularly set out, and in early
spring and summer Newbern must be a charm
le lt;le town in some respects. Many Of the
wealthy families abandoned their houses on the
approach Of our army, and their dwellings are
now occupied as ofices for officers, and quarters
4. -.Hs sk
seen, and few ladies, except such as have follow
ed their husbands from the North.
The stores are well filed with all articles Of
trade. fresh from New York. and Jews and Yam
kees vie with each other in the race for wealth
and gain. Soldiers and contrabands are the two
classes most numerous IN town, but all seem 10
have something TO DO, and 10 be doing it.
Along the wharyes the natives seem to be do
in- a thriving business in the fish trade; while
the Government, having assumed control Of the
'.pitch orchards" within our lines, has collected
several hundred barrels Of pitch, resin, tar SC.
The CASTOR House. the only hotel in running
order, and around which huge rats in droyes
hold carnival, furnishes decent bed and board al
two dollars and fifty cents per day.
Bowling alleys, billiard saloons, eating houses
and BARRIERS shops drive thriving business,
but one cannot fail 10 see that the wealth, life,
AMI this is but picture, true as far as it goes.
II almost every southern city and town within
the Union lines.
The cars run daily between NeWbern and
Morehead City, leaving Newbern st 9 A. NJ,
and returning there at P. NJ; and though
the government CATS are coarse, the road is
straight and in good repair, and fast speed Is
made by trains The telegraph wires arc up,
too, as they always are where the Union armies
g.
Detachments Of soldiers are stationed at Have
lock on S.ocum Greek, near where Burnside
landed his expedition against Newbern, and At
several points along the railroad, 70 guard
against the enemy. Block houses, with ocea-
siona.y a small piece Of artillery peering on; q
some port hole, give these little Outposts quite
formidable appearance.
The line Of the railroad lies through the re-
gion Of d" pine orchard" below. The soil along
the road is sandy and poor; the clearings and
dwellings are scattered sud IN kecplng with the
poverty and Incidence Of the inhabitants. No
snow has fallen there this winter, the ground
was uuirozen, aud people were pl0ughlug and
preparing TO plant potatoes and peas.
Approaching the city we come TO the more
formidable and enduring WORKS constructed by
our own forces, encircl.ng the plsce for several
miles, AND rendering IL al this time deteusible
agliu-t a very large force.
The city, il WILL be remembered. stands on
the north bank u Trent river, a broad. low
banked. muddy stream where Il unitcs with e
Neuse, cro-z-l by very long bnt substantial
new raIrusi bridge AZ the city. On the 0ppo-
site og southern bank con,rabaud city" Is
snrlru- Ju, and already contains several hun
i.,I ui the b. reliable iuI INTEL gent who have
eUu- iu to share tle iestiuies of the Union.
They continue siIl % come. iu lHrIer numbers
than tlc Doui-ierl-y ciu long aturi 20 spare
Is,uty came into tine camp Of the Ninth Yer
mont ou the day of my arrival there, as | was
told 10y Col Ripley. The men nearly all enlist
into the different oolorei orginizations the We
men do washing for the army, or such other
work ss Trey are fitted for and the children
(as well a. some Of their parents) attend the
coutrab nd schools.
There are several Of these schools now in sue
cessiul operation al Newbern and Beaufort, and
preparations are making to open one at More
head Two hundred are receiving instruction
in the schools at Beaufort, under the superin-
tendence Of gentleman from Franklin County,
Vt. In one sehol three generations are repre-
sented IN one family.-They are said 70 learn
rapidly, and to prize the privilege Of learning
above most things else
The entire region, as far as White Oak River,
is one vast "pine orchard" productive only Of
pitch, resin, turpentine and tar. Nearly every
tree above six inches in diameter has been
barked, or Clipped as the natives say, for pitch.
A trough or basin is cut in the tree near the
roots TO contain the pitch as II runs out, then
strip of bark about six inches in width and four
feet II length is stripped off the tree above the
basin, and the larger trees are tapped on both
sides sometimes
The trees are visited once in ten days, when
81. ..h - Ntruad ,ftfa af basins md
chip of bark few inches in length taken off the
tree. This process continues for years or during
the life of the trees, which are often seen
stripped Of bark for twenty feet above the ground
In all this region there is not hill nor val
ley, neither a mountain in sight from the coast.
The men are lean, ssllow complexioned. stoop-
shouldered and indolent The women are SLOW
enly and grossly addicted to snuff dipping, and
all alike, men, women and children, are ignorant
and contented. The surface of the country re-
minds me of the Yorktown peninsula. but its
civilization is of a still lower grade Its dwell
ings are poorer; agriculture scarcely extends
beyond a garden or corn-feld, and saw negro
cabins by the way. through the chinks andcreE-
ices of which cat might run, or young dar-
key crawl, with impunity.
Large number of the slaves have escaped to
our lines. but many are yet seen in this country.
apparently not disposed to escape from the land
of pitch where '' dey was bred an born
Hog and homrny" were the principal arti-
cles of food, even before war times disturbed
their blissful ignorance, but how they are to OBJ
tain these much longer will soon be a question,
for we went far enough into rebeldom to ind
fresh pork worth tlpo dollars and nifty cents per
pound, and corn tsOsnt9-fre dollars per barrel.
This food question will certainly be very grave
one for one man whom met, whose family con-
sisted Of sirteen children and sersn dogs.
He said he had " hearn tell " Of a family Of
twenty-five children, and seemed very hopeful Of
reaching that consummation devouuy TO be
wished in his own experience.
Preacher" sometiues find their way into
these pine forests, but schools are not known,
and newspapers are seldom seen. Hence these
people are deplorably ignorant in regard to the
great questions Of the war They do not seem
10 appreciate its results thus far nor its tenden-
cies, neither that their own rights and interests
are SO intimately connected with H.
North Carolina is to them the nation. no mat
ter whether called Union or Confederate.