Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1865-01-11
The Dutch Gap.

ne nuseh "SP.
There is no longer any doubt that the
Dutch Cap canal is ii failure. The re-
cent attempt by the explosion OF Il thine
To blow the end out of it, did more harm
than good The entire length ot the canal
l, tive hundred and twenty-five feet, II Is
cnt through Il very high bank, and at the
top the excavation is one hundred ani
twenty-five feet wide. The excavation
gradually naIrows as it goes down, at the
top OF the canal it is sixty feet wide, at
the bottom forty feet. AT high water the
canal is sixteen feet deep The canal WAS
dug by hard ami 10y dredging machines,
excepting a high bu!khe:,d OF EARTH fifty
feet thick, which WAS left standing AT the
northern end to keep the water out aud
also 10 act as a protection against Con
tederate shells. In the middle OF The canal
there was another bulkhead OF a SIM ar
character. This bukhead was blown out
on December Sih, by Il mine explosion.
winch was Il success. The canal was
thus completed, excepting the removal of
the bhlkhead at the end. The Cuutede
rates, during all the time the labor has
been going Oh, have kept up Il vi.or-
Gus shel.ing. Nearly Il thousand Fed
eral soldiers have been killed and
wounded by their shells. Ten dredging
machines have, one after another, been
smashed TO pieces, and drcd dging WAS final
ly abandoned. The explosion on sunday
last consumed eighty thousand pounds OF
powder. The buinhe;id was blown up
into the AIR, but fell back into its original
position. and no connection between the
canal AMI river was secured. The cxplo-
sion did harm. 1t filed up IA large pur-
ton of the canal that had been excavatei,
and by severiHg the high bukhead that
previously kept on the Confederate shells,
it made the canal from one end to Tie
other subject to bomhardment. Now, no
one can labor anywhere near il without
provoking a storm OF shell. There is but
little doubt that the work will be a5an-
duncd.
The expedition which was sc1lt by Gen.
Sherman TO the Altamoha river, south
west of Savannah, has returned. 1t
marched 10 the liver. hnt finding huge
swamps, garli~oncd at many places by
| Confederate works, no attempt was made
to 60 any father. The expedition de-
stroyed the Savannah, Albany and Gulf
railroad, from the Ogcechee 10 the Alta
hama, Il distance of abont forty miles.
NJ part of Shcrmari's army has vet cross
ed the Savannah river To South Carolina,
but an attack upon Charleston Is antici-
Pated. The cotton captured at Savannah
Is TO be brought 10 New York.
The reports made by BurbridEe and
S;oneman, of their late cavalry cxpedi-
tion into Southwestern Nir. mia, state that
the towns of WyethNi.Ie. Bristol uni Abb
ingdon were burned, AMI one thousand
prs mrs and twenty cannon captured.
The Virginia and tennessee railroad was
destroy ed for several miles.
There is u report that Gen Steadman.
who was at Decatur, Alabama, OF Sun
day last captured Hood's p"ntoon trains
south Of the Tennessee river. Ii lacks
confirmation, however. Steadman had
captured SIX hundred mules and one hun
| dred wagons from the Conleder;ttcs.
The War Department at Washington
has IN It's possession two hundred and
hive captured Confederate battle fsgs,
The War Department at Richmond has
two hundred and thirty-ninc Federal
la4s.
Nine guerri!las were captured ut the
iseiay House, near Baltimore, yesterday.
lhey were going To Point OF Rocks on
the i5aiunurc and Ohio railroad, and in
tended 10 destroy the road
In Kentucky body of Confederate
cavalry lave captured Ovenshoro, nn the
ONO river, a hundred miles below Louis
Vile
O1 the 2ith of December the gucrrilas
IN Florida captured a Federal colonel,
captain and lieutenant near jacksonville.
-Ph'Ia. Ag", JaD. 6.
a LITTLE SroRY BY Mr.. LINCOLN
!'rhalS The opiiiion of the President on
General Ihom.,s' great victory before
Nashville may bc of interest.
MT. fresi'ient," said "a friend to him.
II there isn't much left of HOoI's army,
is there p
'Wcll, no MedilI I think that Hoods
army Is about in the fix OF Bill Sykes
dog down IN Sangamon county; did you
ever hear OF ii -
Oi course the answer WAS never"
" Well, Bill S,kcs had lonc. u,Rc7.
dog, that was forever getting into the
iiel@hhofS meat houses and chicken conps.
hey had tried to kill il :, hundred times,
out the dog was always too smart fpr
tnrm. fn'aiiy one of them got Il bladder
oi coon AMI filed it up with powder,
iyin@ the neck around piece of punk
when he saw the dog cun,inr, he fired