Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-10-05
"REMINISCENCES OF THE SIEGE
OF ATLANTA.

psft Ot the tils sbues sses".8
With hi. pick. lie found that he had
discovered . b,mbshell and very csfsfal'
" he removed the soil until the deadly
missile vas cleared from lie bed OF clay.
The wsll.disger was aware OF the danger
Of the rusty bombs which lie embedded
in the soll around Atlanta. No lees than
four or Eve persons have been killed BY
the explosion Of these shells. which missed
their original aim aud sank apparently
harmless. into the soil.
During the siege " Atlanta In 1864.
|, Vas . practical question and one OF
vital interest bow - dodge them. Grad.
uslly the Confederate lines drew nearer
TO the city. The fam, echo Of their
guns vas heard ten miles away. When
the lines fell back to the river there vas
q universal vail In Atlanta. The river
had been regarded a. barrier beyond
which the invader could not come. and
there was . constant expectation that
Johnston would DO something TO Psralyrs
bis enemy.
Oae evening abou, dusk came the
new. to the city tina, the Confederate
,rooTs had crossed the river and burned
the bridge behind them That announce
men, .iillsd thousand hearts Ia the
bslesgurtd city. There VAS then no al
tentative ba, capture. The people knew
,h. relative force Of the armies. They
we're we'll aware ,ha, sherman had o,s'
100, 900 sls,sd by . successful march
into the hs.r; Of their enemys country,
while opposing them we're about 10000
men 10 gray. who had been hgh,ing .
.lo- and desperate retreat.
After the n,sr had been crossed tho
Federal army s~ep, wi,h little oo'true-
ton to the very outskirts Of the city
Atlanta then had q regular population
Of .boa, 10 900. bu, the Concentration
Of war supple. and the imPorisnee ct
uehed to Il I. base OF supplies bad
run the population up TO 90 900 OF u.s.
600. The city ~n ,semlns With people
all 10 . great agitation when the,
heard the, III, invader bad set bis FOOT
on the eastern bsHk Of the Chai,ahco'
chez.
Ho- to defend the city ~a' the neat
question. IL Vas snssered by SONS
,,,y practical and in',llis-n, men whose
duty to the southern Confsdersey had
hep, them in or around Atlanta. Chis'
among these 90. colonsl l.. 7. Grant,
the present President Of the Atlanta And
we., Poin, Railroad. Colonel Grant
planned these complete lines Of fOrahes'
tons. One ~.. the skirt boundary ol
the city. The other vi. TO surround
the ,hieIly settled districts. vale the
third VI. 10 sneirele the very heart ol
the city, With the ooari.hoVss as q sort
Of final rampant and stronghold. All
,hs.e work, wire duly constructed &C
eordins 10 Colonel Giants plans. and the
defence. Of Atlanta sere famous for THEFT
ingenuity and strength.
Ba, the Federal forces Tough, their
way on until they we're within eannoa.
.ho, Of the city. They tried by several
desperate assaults like ihs, Of July ?2d,
a mile beyond the eens,sry. and like the
bloody ou,,laush on peseh,fee Greek,
few day. later. TO s-eep nigh, in,o tbs
city. Ia all these effort, they were
checked by force hardly half I. great
q, the, Of the invaders. Mcpherson fell
in .ish, Of the city Many officers Of minoI
rank fell. Men were moved down like
~hes, by th. determined defenders OF the
city. l, must be q .lo~ sisse to win.
sherman realized this fac, quickly. aud
accordingly adjusted hi, forces. Batter
is. With The hssvie., guns he could COM
m.nd were placed In the from, OF the
Federal lines. They were slmos, COM
pl..s!y around the city. Their range
va. -four OF five miles. and they had only
mile or . mile and half 10 cover.
Shell. poured thick into the city. and
reign OF terror began.
Then came the bomb. proof. j, VA
the only refuge from the shells OF the be-
.isssr,. Every household soon had ia
place Of refuge. The bomb-Proof con-
sisted Of perpendicular hole 10 ,h'
ground about four fee, square. and 9
tunnel Of .ix fee, which led into . vault
Of v.riou. dimension. The average size
Of the bomb.proof ". l0il2 feet. but
many q them were larger. Some ol
them were lu,uriou.ly furnished. and Of
f,rd ell the comfort, Of home 10 the &C.
res, under the ground from the 'irrlins
aud popping shells.
80 far 80 protection TO life Vas con-
cerned they were perfect No shell could
penetrate through the roof OF coil. and
there va. no, chance 10 . million that
any Of the enemy's missiles would fall n
the marrow entrance. The bomb-prooI
was . complete protection from the enc
my. missiles. and saved many life in
Atlanta. Thousand. Of shells fell 10 the
city during the siI weeks Of terror. and
no, half dozen lives acre los,. The
fatal she'll fell in fron, OF where James,
bank nov l.. |, exploded 10 the streets
One piece killed q shoemaker in . cellar
Another frsgmsn, murdered mule on
the street Another piece broke . stone
pos, ., the corner which still bears the
mark, a. dses the gas pos, . few feel
away. which vas almost Gu, away BY the
furious she'll.
The bomb.proOf. remained long afel
the siege, They were objects Of great
curiosity to the esp'or Of the city. wher
Sherman drove the people on, OF Atlantis
and burned their houses, the bomb-proof'
escaped hi, vengeance. Many Of them
remained until the new city began Il
rise. and there are .,ill 10 many gsrden'
Of thi. city traces Of these impro,ised de-
fence. Of the ~omen and children OF Al
lsn,A atlanta Consultation.
PoLLrs sESsE.-A lady living Ia
Colorado has = very clever parrot. bu,
like clever babies, IL can rarely be made
to "sho~ OF" ., the desired tins. The
owner Of the pAro, one afternoon gave
tes-psrty to dozen or more ladies. and
Mi. Polly positively declined assisting
in the entertainment Of the guests. Not
one wo,d would ,he say, but KEEP, up Z
cOns,sn, snsrling and 'nappins sh.. VA