The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1898-12-15
Cant you bulge him?' queried a


oh de mex half hour dat ole hoss am
gwine to be scarf half to death"
In about twenty minutes the sulleD
boom Of gun was heard from Grants
line, and directly a solid shot was
heard coming with its III N m. The
old horse heard il and began to dance,
and, as the missile sailed above him
aud knocked splinters from the hotel
he yanked the wheels out of the rut
and started off as if death was afte,
him.
There was certain street cOrne-
which was under fire of the Feder,@
sharpshcoters by day. and at least Il
dozen people were killed there. Ci!
iZens wonId hurry around the corner
by night and a sign of Danger
Look Out" hung there by day. A
length the boys bit upou an idea
Procuring Confederate uniform
they stuffed it with straw and arrang-
ed rope and pully to work him, and
the next morning the fun began. The
Yankee sharpshooter afar off saw a
Petersburger standing upright on
that forbidden corner as if it were
the safest place IN the world. Wip-
ing his eyes 30 make sure he was no.
deceiving himself, the Yankee drew
a bead on the reckless intruder anG
saw him drop. In ten minutes q
second one appeared, and a bullet,
likewise, laid him low When the
night closed down that sharpshooter
must have thought that the war was
almost at end, as the boys had let
him ping the straw man forty or fifty
times. The bullets rassed through
him and were fattened against wall.
and even these long years have not
affected the lead colored spots. On
the next day the dummy was killed
about twenty times. and on the next
day he was detected. The sharp
shooter had probably secured a tele
scope and discovered the cheat. Deep
disgust prevented his firing another
shot for several days.
The houses on the south of the city
under the range Of the hill were in
plain view of one of Grants forts.
md the residents had some wonderful
escapes. On one occasion a woman
who was hanging out clothes in the
yard, had the clothes basket standing
not over ten feet away, knocked sky
high by solid shot, which continued
on through the pig pen, broke a soap
Kettle, smashed into the woodshed
and brought up under the table ia the
kitchen.
Connected with the Tobacco Elk
change al Richmond is a gentleman
who. was living under the hill' in
Petersburg during the perilous days
After several shot ana shell had pass
ed over his house, his family left it
for safe quarters, but one evening he
decIdrd to return. EVERYTHING was
Cu1et ior an hour, and then a shot
came looming over. This was enough
for WIFE and children, bat the hus
band got mad and declared he would
stay there that night If every gun in
the Federal intreHchments was turn.
ed loose upon him. Half an hour
went by, and he was patting himself
on The back over his grit, when the
federals suddenly got mad and open
ed five or SIX heavy guns on the hill
Shot and she'll roared, Kissed and
screamed and the mans hair began
10 crawl. He stuck there. however
boom. bish, crash. came a cannon ball
IS big as his head plumb through one
side Of the house and ont of the other,
and then he few out doors and struck
a gait just a little bit faster than
creased lightning. Singularly enough,
that was the only shot which ever hit
the house, though dozens hit around
it.
After Grant had his guns in posi-
ton, and mote especially after he be-
gan reaching ont for the Weldon
Railroad, be could have knocked Pc.
tersburg TO pieces in twenty four
hours, He would probably have
done so, had there been any excuse
for 1t, but there was none. The Con
federate line was a mile and a half
away and Petersburg was held only
by non cOmbatants. Nevertheless.
Grant did not propose that any one
within reach of his guns should sleep
soundly or forget his presence. Oc-
casIonal shots were therefore pitched
INTO the city to check any enthusiasm
One night during an artillery duel
to the left Of the Crater. the Federal
guns We're for time so elevated that
every missile cleared the Confederate
lines, lowled over Petersburg, and
/ Tell among the houses under the hill.
! One shot entered the window of
house and exploded in the parlor. A
part Of the front Of the house was
/ blown out. one side demolished, the
! chamber floor driven through the
roof, and the whole building weaken
ed. The people had removed leaving
most OF their goods, and a dog to
watch them No one could say Just
where tie dog was when the explo
sion took place, but he was not killed.
In the winter of 1864, a citizen, who
had unexpectedly received $4,000 in
! Confederate currency on An old debt,
determined to have good, square
/ dinner, and company to help eat IT,
! Rye coffee. bacon. meal, rice and mo-
lasses were about the only provisions
n the market, but at cost of S1,960
the citizen scraped together enough
to justify him in inviting company
Of SIX friends. The guests were in
the paTlor. the table set, and the cook
was over the stove, when a shell en-
tered 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
L saw, could not have heen demclish
! ad any better with an axe. and the
! plaster in two or three other ronms
was shaken down. While all was ex-
citement, and before any one really
understood just what had happened,
8 second shell plunged into a lower
bedroom IN another part of the house,
alighted on the bed and there explod
ed. All the plaster on that side of
the room and overhead was shaken
Of, the walls bulged out, the window
glass shiyered into fine frapmants-