Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-12-21

OTen. Out the husband got mad ana declared
he would stay there that night If every gun IL
the federal intrenchments was turned loos,
upon him. Half an hour went by, and he wa
patting himself on the back over his grit. wher
the federals suddenly got mad and opened
nve or SIX heavy guns at the hill. Shot ant
the mans hair began to crawl. He stuck
there. however. until boom! bsh! crash! came
cannon ball as big As his head plumr
through one side Of the house and out Of thu
other, and then he flew out of doors and strucl
a gait just little faster than creased lightning
Singularly enough, that was the only shot which
ever hit the house, though dozens fell around it
KEEPING DOWN THEIR SPIRITS
After Grant had his guns in position, and more
especially after he began reaching out for thu
Weldon railroad, he could have knocked Peters
burg to pieces in twenty -four hours. He would
probably have done SO had there been any ex
cuse for it, but there was none The confede-
rate lines were a mile and a half away. and
petersburg was held only by non-cOmbatants
Nevertheless Grant did not propose that any one
IN reach of his guns should sleep soundly or for
get his presence. Occasional shots were there
fore pitched into the city to check any enthu-
siasm.
ONE SHELLS WORK.
One night, during an artillery duel to the left
OF the crater, the federal guns were for time
federate lines, howled over Petersburg. and fell
among the houses under the hill. One shell en-
tered the window of a house and exploded in
the parlor. A part of the front of the house
was blown out, one side demolished, the cham
Der floors driven through the roof, and the whole
building weakened. The people had removed
leaving most of their goods. and dog to watch
them. No one could say just where the dog was
when the explosion took place, but he was not
killed.
DEMOLISHED DINNER.
In the winter of 1864, citizen, who had un-
expectedly received $4,000 in confederate cur.
rency On an old debt, determined to have q
good, square dinner, and company to help eat
it. Rye coffee, bacon, meal, rice and molasses
were about the only provisions IN the market
but at a cost of ST. $50 the citizens scraped to.
gether enough to Justify him in inviting a com.
pany Of six friends. The guests were in the
parior the table set, and the cook was over the
stove, when a shell entered the dining room
through the side of the house. The explosion
SO wrecked the room that no one could enter it.
The table, pieces of which I saw, could not have
been demolished any better with an ak, and the
plaster in two or three other rooms was shaken
down. While all was excitement, and before
anyone really understood just what had hap
pened, second shell plunged into a lower bed
room in another part of the house. alighted on
INC Ueu anu there eXplOueu. All the plaster on
that side of the room and overhead was shaken
off, the walls bulged out. the window glass
shivered into fine fragments, a bureau split to
kindlings, and yet a looking glass was not even
cracked. The force of the explosion was up
wards and Outwards, and save powder stain
and scOrch the bed was not damaged. These
two missiles were the only ones which entered a
house on that block during the whole siege and
were probably thrown from gun which had
just been put in position.
KILLED ON THE STREET.
Scores of shot and she'll fell upon the streets,
and many pedestrians were manned and
killed. solid shot which hit a chimney and
then rolled off the roof, killed colored
woman who was passing below. A shell which
fell near negro who was working in garden
tore him into small pieces and cut the handle
OF the hoe off within foot of the socket.
boy on horseback heard whrr and saw a
flash, and the next thing he knew he was
seated astride of dead horse cannon
ball having torn the animals Jaws off. e.
capes were both wonderful and innumerable
and when one sees the bullets in window
stills, the cannon balls in the walls, and the
rents made by the deadly Shells he is amazed
that any one had the bravery to remain there
during those long months, when every day was
full of death and every night replcte with
horror.