The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1882-06-03
War Telegraphing.

War Telegraphing.
The Union army in 1862 encampcd
on the north bank Of the Rappahannock,
opposite what was to be the disastrous
field OF Fredericksburg, On the bank
OF the river, in the extreme front Of the
Union line, stood the house OF Mrs.
Gray, long, rambling stone building,
whose front OF three stories faced the
river The roof slopcd stecply toward
the rear where the stone side was but
one story high, Mrs, Gray herself, an
elderly widow, had received the Union
advance with every demonstration Of
welcome, and her house soon became a
fayorite rendezvous for young officers.
a prime cause Of this, aside from Mrs.
Gray's cheerful hearth and good fare,
was the beauty of her daughter Sallie, a
brunette of perhaps 20 years. A young
lieutenant was badly wounded by those
batteries and spent all his spare time
at the feet Of this fair Southerncr, who
profcsscd such sympathy with the
Union cause.
Late one rainy night ascntincl pacing
back and forth before the stone of the
Gray house heard q faint but sharp
noise cutting the still air. II sounded
like the click Of a telegraph instrument
and IL seemed to come from beneath his
feet. Greatly perplcxcd he called Tie
sergeant Of the guard. They listened
carefully and were presently Joined by
the gallant lover OF Sallie GRAY. Con
vlctlon Of trcaChcry smote his heart and
with the sergeant he unccrcmoniously
entered the Gray dwelling. Sallie and
her mother despite the late hour, were
busily sewing by table in the sitting
room. The ladies rose in apparent sur
prise and Indignation at the intrusion.
"Step aside, if you please said the
sergeant.
What does this mean?" asked Mrs.
Gray sharply.
frank, appeal to you for prolec-
ton cried the young lady to the lieu
tenant That officer could only shake
his head and sternly wave her aside.
you are false. You have deceived me-"
he said hoarsely, as the girl who had
promised to be his bride sank sobbing
upon a sofa.
The soldiers could hear the ticking
more plainly now They moved the
table, lifted the carpet, and discovered
a trap leading to cellar Of whose ex-
istence they had no suspicion. A light
below was instantly quenchcd, but they
fearlessly descended and discovered q
telegraph instrument with an insulated
wire running through the cellar wall,
and evidently passing beneath the river
to the enemy on the other side. Crouch
ing in corner was the operator, a
young and handsome man, who had
never before been seen about the house,
having lived for days in the cellar.
you are my prisoner from the ser
geant brought the distressed wall from
poor Sallie Of My husband, Oh, my,
husband The heart Of the Union
lieutenant went back once more to the
girl he left behind him.
But, Notwithstanding the detection of
this line of communication, the enc
my seemed TO know Of every move
ment Of the Union troops 1t was
a mystery to the officers how they
gained their knowledge There were
no more telegraph wires, and there
was no passing across the river. At
last the mystery was solved Within
the Union lines, but in sight OF the enc
my, there stood a low frame house oc-
cupied by n negro who did washing for
the soldiers He hung his clothes to
dry in the front yard but it was MOTTO
ed that in the porch there always hung
three flannel shirts one red, one white
and one blue. The negro said they
were his Union colors. But the shirts
were not always in the same position,
and a suspicious sergeant finally became
convinced that the negro used them 70
signal across the Rappahannock. The
arrest of the negro and the eilcctual use
of the shirts 10 deceive instead of to in
form the enemy followed.
At another time the Army of the Po-
tomac was nearing Berlin, Va, To re-
Ccivc orders in the rear, the troops had
laid ten miles of insulated wire, run
ming through the woods, now beneath
the leaves and again carried among the
tree-tops 1t was impossible to picket
the entire line, and large part OF it
was exposed. but it was thought TO DO
effectually concealed A scout one day
lying in ambush heard sound like the
ticking of clock. Creeping forward,
he was aStonishod to see a johnny in
his gray uniform sitting on the ground
chuckling to himself, and buSily writ
ing. The scout sprang to his feet, aud
leveIing his revolver, said to the laugh
ING rebel; What are you doing hcrcp"
81 surrender" was the chagrincd reply,
the smile suddenly disappearing. The
scout discovered that the rebel had cut
the wire and had connected the ends
with a loop running into a clock, the
electricity securing the cscapcment so
that the messages licked themselves
plainly into the rebels ear, The ingcn-
ious machine was capturcdwith Thereof
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