, 1864-04-08

exception Of tic Provost Guard, whose duty
1t was to guird the Government property,
foEhdcatlons consist Of q single ditch sur
rounding the city, ending at. the river above
and below the city limits. -
Selma is the eastern terrnfuas Of the Ala
oama and Missisaippi River Railroad, which
1nns 10 Mefidian and jackson, which places
would be difficult for nc to give correct
statemsnt Of the immense amounto Of damage
Cen Sherman inflicted on tearing up that
1ailroad. Nothing In the Southern States is
nearer used up tl.an the Railroads, and they
can geI no more iron to replace that which
Nearly all OF tho Railroads of 1csserimpor-
tancc IN the South have been taken up to re-
pair and patch up the more important ones.
seima Is also the terminus Of the Alabama
and Eienneesec River Railroad, which
Tuns within nine miles OF Jacksonville. io
the northern part of tue State The railroad
runs directly through the richest mineral
country In the South In fact the coal mines
ol Alaeama supply every arsenal, foundry
gunnoat, and every manufacturing establish
ment III The Confedcracy, with tlts fndi5pen.'
sable material for tho manufacture OF mnni
tiens Of war; and this Is the only place in the
Coniedcracy where coal abounds now in their
reach. The same may be said with regard to
the iron mines Of Alabama. They produce
IN ineSl.austib1c supply of metal, equal, it is
sn1d, to the best in tic world, and it has been
proved to be OF inestimable value In tho man
utscturc of cannon. Nearly one hundred tons
Of pig iron passes over this road daily, the
most Of which is reshtpped to the different
arnories and arscnals throughout the Con-
1ederacy, and Is rapidly converted into mis-
Eiles Of war.
The Alabama River is fortified ut ono place
only between Mobile and Selma. It is nearly
Two hundred miles from the hitter, and Is con.
sidercd there to be quite formidable. It com
mnnds stretch Of about four miles of the
r,ver, and ANIL some heavy guns are mounted % on
The celebrated sllt works Of Alabama are
len miles west Of this place, where the lar-
gcet part OF tls salt used in Alabama, Gcor-
gia and Mississippi, for the past two years
hes been made. Salt water is found at these
works at depth of from ten to fifteen feet.
Wells arc dug aud curbed, furnaces built of
the lime rock, OF which there is an abundance
near, and large kettles similar to long rows
on these furnaces. The water is drawn from
the wells by large pumps and conducted to
the furnace by means of trouEhs made for
the purpose The water Is then boiled down.
kettles. This business employs large num-
bcr Of both blacks and whites; besides being
Livery profitable business, the salt makers
were exempt from military duty, which made
it yery popular. The salt made ut these
works sold US high as thirty dollars per bush
cl, though suit was considered to be the high
| est Of anything ia the, Coufederacy.
Selma fifteen years ago was small village,
! but grew very rapidly up to the commence
ment Of the war. Since then nothing has
been doing except at the Government works
A large hotel in course Of erection WIS left
once groaned under the weight Of the pro-
ducts OF Northern industry, are now either
closed entirely, or at most have few boxes
OF tobacco, few pieces Of osnabergs, or