The Arkansaw traveler., 1882-12-10

8dLI par ik. He fbnna sne place pnnnnahae The cuuG16eumaes held Sumssr skrunxA cNer 800 days of hosnhsrdmeuk haA oseu soo nen killed 6rsa and lssk. and Sef did not fnd the spos unscnahae, ev<n wh1n is had only twc cannon in posisioa and tho spray of the seA f1ew clear over tho brick piles We can make as hero of a man who endured a bognhnriment from old fashioned guns foT thirty hears. bus one must give no credit to men who endured the horrors of 500 days of sseady siege by the heaviest ordnance known to var. We can say they were Amcrican< Twenty years hence the historian will dare to speak of them as heroes and feel pride in knowing that II took heroes to conquer them
 The city of Charleston was under siege sSS days. and for over 500 days under fire. When Gilmore %, his swamp Angel' planted and sen, word that he would open tirc on the city the oi,iiens of Chariestca laughed over the message. His guns were five miles away. and the idea tha; he could do the city an, harm was too absurd to entertain.
 l, is just midnight.
 W-r-r-r-r. S-s-s-s. Scream rush bang.
 Gilmore has sen, his firs, shell into the city. It strikes brick building opposite the postoffice and explodes with crash which turns 5000 people out of bed. Men who heard the horrible screaming of ,ha, great shell as it came over the waters of the bay will never forget the sound.
 In hve minutes second one came, but thls failed to explode and IS now on exhibition al Major Willis -ffioe on the wharf l. just fits inso and .as, ssas a nail kea. By the tune the third one ar rived all Charleston ~as awake and full of alarm and horror. That was the be- ginning of siege which has no parallel in American warfare. Day after day week after week-morssh after month. with only intervals of few hours at a tune for the guns 10 cool or some new move to be made, the bombardmen; con. tinued Grant did no, care 10 inlure re- tersburg Gilmore would have wiped Charleston off the face of the earth if he had been able.
 That frs; nights experience was enough to arouse the city to action No,..a building in the lower part of the city was safe from the big shells loaded with Greek fire. Under the advice of the chief of the fire department every house kep, a ready supply of water on hand, in barrels and other vessels. In some districts bodies of minute men wcre formed, who would rush to the spo, where shell fell and quickly subdue the flames. in case a ire was started. The business streets were all paved with cobble-sfone. These stones were taken up and dumped into the sea. and it was wise prccaa;ion. Scores of shells fel! upon the streets. and buried themselves tn the sand and exploded without damage.
 Bl and by the people became used .o the situation. and seemed 10 go to bed without any moro fear than would have been shown in New York While the street cars ceased 10 run. all other busi- ness was transacted as usual. and during the hottest fire of the whole siege men were loading vessels at the whar,eS, va rlous factories were running. and children were playing in the public parks. Fed eral history pictures Charleston in ruins and filled with woe and desolatlon with Tn thirty days after Gilmore opened fire. As matter of fact business Was no, sns- pended for a single hour While fe~ families left the city, others came m. and after the first fortnigh, the shells were looked upon as matter of course. Probably not more than thirty inhabitants were killed by the missiles direct, and both of the big fires had their origin n other causes. As Charleston began naughty Imperious and defiant So she remained To the last, and when cvacua- a,ed the southern oonfeder. v was draw ing it's las, breath of life.