Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-08-15
THE LOCALITY OF THfSGs.

In the first place, then, at the main
steamboat landing here, where the mail
boat lands, there is whats left of it, a
substantial new pine wharf a third OF a
mile or 50 in length along the river.
Back Of this, ten or twelve feet from the
edge Of it, ran q mammoth new pine Gov
ernment warehouse, nearly the length of
the wharf. along the river built in the
most substantial manner, and which 1
bad just made note Of as being over
quarter of mile in length, sixty feet
wide, and twenty-five feet high, from floor
TO apex, and capable of standing the wear
and tear of war for at least quarter Of a
century.
Back of this warehouse from the river,
runs the railroad track along the platform
Of the warehouse, making the transition of
freight from the boats to the railroad
trains simply through the warehouse. Be-
yond the railroad track, from the ware
house, at the foot of the hill upon which
the town is situated, was a new pine row.
in which the POst-Office Adams Express
office, and a quartermaster's office were
kept, and few old buildings, occupied as
suffers establishments, &c, while upon the
hill, beside the city Of tents, there were
scattered about a dozen or more substan-
tial frame residences, occupied now mostly
for various military purposes.
Opposite the ammunition section of the
warehouse lay the barge Major-General
Meade, loaded with condemned stores, IN
Guiding condemned ammunition; outside
of her the ammunition barge j. +. Ken
drick loaded with fixed ammunition for
distribution, and, outside OF, or near her,
the J. O. Campbell, loaded with commits
sary stores, with other boats and vessels
close around and above and below.
THE HxrBesrUN AND rTs ErFEvrs.
You haZe read Of er,lptions- of XesuEi=
5ia, such GuIrIcd LIoIouIeaiiotIIII aHu IUII-
peii. You have seen illustrations of them
in the books. This must have been such
an explosion as one of these, except that
instead Of lava and dust and ashes, it
rained over the circle of mile, in whole
packages and by piece-meal, everything
4 you can imagine at a military depot. En-
I tire boxes Of fixed ammunition came down
among the tents in the town a quarter Of
Z @ mile distant and scarcely a tent or house
or boat can be found within the circle of a
mile that is not riddled by shell, solid shot,
/ or small ammunition
The massive pine wharf in front of
where these boats lay which was bolted
down upon piles and sleepers of pine trees,
is brushed aside for about third of its
| length, as if it had been made of the paper
! write on, while the substantial plank
warehouse, with massive beams, built for
at least a quarter of century, has been
crushed for nearly its entire length as il
it had been a lady's handbook. The freight
train that was just ready to start when the
explosion happened Is shattered in nearly
Il every car, though not past repair, and
had the uninteresting satisfaction Of seeing
where my remains would have lain on the
heads OF the whisky barrels if L had re-
mained on the car first occupied.
The pine board row in which were the
Post-oflce, Adams Express office, and q
Quartermaster's office, was also crushed by
the conclusion and the heavier foreei
brought against it like band-box, bu
fortunately, or rather, miraculously, none
! of its occupants were seriously injured
; The neighboring suffers, while equally un
fortunate in the demolition Of their estab
J lishments, were equally fortunate, under
stand, in the safety Of their persons, witt
4 perhaps one or two exceptions.
Every frame house in the town wa
iarred by the conclusion alone TO the eX
7 tent of having its inside plastering knOcSe
! of, beside other damages BY missiles, 81
! Against the houses and other obstruction
! near the wharf and even upon the hill
) hundreds, and perhaps thousands, (
# broken, twisted and splintered muskei
+ and such debris Law in drifts like stra'
e drilled by the wind, and all over th
c ground for at least quarter of mi
!, from the scene Of the explosion the shel
J solid shot, grape, canister, musket An
d mimic balls, pieces of shells, nails, screw
e bolts and bolt-heads, and fragments Of a
4 most everything wooden, iron and leade
l. YOU can think OF, are strewn and drlfte
e like hail and chunks of ice immediatel
after n hail storm.
One Of the Sanitary Commission clerl
$, who has a post at the edge of the wat
g. two hundred yards above where the G,
J. plosion occurred, picked up a wash-bas
1T full lperhaps fifty or sixty pieces Of sht
O. and pieces of shell, that fell within te
feet Of him. Up on the hill, two hundr,
e yards from the place of the explosion,
noticed one shattered musket, among maj
others lying around, stuck muzzle first in
the hard street to the depth Of mole tn;
a foot. and SO tight thar it could not
= pulled out by any one man. This W
Is near where the twisted section Of be
na keel lay. Everywhere are seen the ren
eh dents, deep abrasiOns and Scared furro
It of the iron and leaden storm. The tho
Of sandth part cannot be told.
l.