VOL. 48. AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. published evert inonsDAr uonstso nr johm n. Bratton. T EH M S BunBcniPTi6w. —Ono Dollar and Fifty Conte, paid to advance; Two Dollars if paid within tho year; and Two Dollars and Fifty Cents, if not paid within tho year. Those terms will bo rigidly adhorod to in ©very instance. .No subscription discontinued until nil arrearages aro paid unless at tho option of .the Editor. Advkutisrjtbnth— Accompanied by.thocASH, and not exceeding ono square, will bo inserted three times for Quo Dollar, and twenty-five cents for each additional insertion. Those of a greater length m proportion. . , * '' Jod-Puintixg— Such as Hand-bill., Posting-bills, Pamphlets, Blanks, Labels, Ac. Ac., executed with accuracy and at the shortest notice. poetical. It'roht T7uT2VcW~ J i\tT7Z p '27CTlitjty j übTT' THE VOLUNTEER'S MOTHER. Ho U my boy. ray only boy ; • His father died long years gone by j And little have I known of joy But casing on his dark blue eye. J Tis Hglitod now with higher glow;— His country calls iiiiu ; lot hitu go! He never grieved mo; tender, kind, Strong, loving, full of hope and grace; My life was in his own entwined, • My heart but mirrored back his face. - With.stern resolve ho sceks s the f-o; His country calls him; let him go! lion often have I sat beside Ilim sle ping; clustering round bis head Those rich brown locks, ray praise, my pride. ’ And now the earth must bo his bod. J Tis wrong to grieve for this, I know, His country calls him;.let him go! Ah, in how many hearts this strife Is waged in prayer, by'prayer is won ; Tlu.ro is the wood, the fire, the knifu, And Tor the sacrifice —our son ! ’Twuuld kill mo.if ho fellhut, ,no ! nisejimtry culls him; let him‘go! For God, who gave our land so blest, Would have us guard it—heart and homo, Give up their best at such behest; The gulf was closed in heathen Home ’ With one young warrior—weal or woo, His country calls him; let him go! DOING GOOD. *Tis never too late to do good; , We all have our time to improve; • T Tis doing ho more than we should, Progressively onward to move. *Tis.folly to furlornfuily grieve;' Be hopeful and yon will be wise. The lower (ho station we leave. The greater (he merit to-risc.: W« all might ho better—in fact. Afore li.V-im:— »••*!' rrieu.lly—:more M; Wirfj * nttie more fooling—more tu?t — To manage the heart and the mind. • *Tis nolde to cunicstly strive By labor or learning to rise: The gem-scekcr deeply must dive. Or never look'out for a prire. •ftlimllaiiEpus. A STORY PUS THE LITTLE FOULS. The nig Black Bug. There was once a little girl who had a fun ny namenot so queer by itself, because it was'an old classical name, and belonged to a person that'was celebrated in history; but very oitd indeed, when considered as the title of this particular little girl. Hero was the name ; and anybody would imagine that that person who was called by it should naturally be a very brave and coura geous person. 'On the;contrary, this Hero was the greatest little coward in the world; she was afraid of her own shadow, as people say, am} If she saw a cow in the meadow, ora strange little dog in the yard, or even a poor old pussy-cat sunning herself on the gardon lence, she would rush into the house and cling to her mother, or any one she happened to meet first, trembling and shuddering as if she Lad seen some aWSuI. wild beast. ' All this mortified her mother dreadfully.— She had a great contempt for people who gave way to such silly fears; and she tried in a great many ways to cure her little, daughter of them; But her efforts were- quite useless. In spite of coaxing and reasoning, reproof and punishment. Hero still continued to shiver at the sight of a little red ant or a miserable cock roach, to run in terror if a spider or a worm . crossed her path, and to scream till the whole house was aroused if she happened to wake "up at night and find herself alone in the dark. Yip niay ha sure her mother was ashamed iof havifig Jiur-called Hero. It sounded so ri diculous to he Saying all the time: “Hero is suck ti coward ;” ‘.‘-Thore’s Hero running away from a mouse!” “ Hero’s screaming be cause there’s a caterpillar on her frock!” “He ro’s afraid of her own shadow 1” The people laughed outright when they heard the comi cal name, and her brother Leonard, who was as bold .as a lyon, 1 never called her anything hut “ -S'/ic-ro," in his contempt for her cowra dice. One rainy day, when the little girl was about eight, years old, she was obliged to stay away from school. ■ The wind blow till all the windows in the house rattled again, and the trees on the lawn were bent almost doub le ; the rain beat down like bullcts'on the grav el-walks and on the tin roof ofthe[piaza; and out >n the street there seemed to po a muddy river fuelling along. It was entirely too stormy to think of going to school, and Hero was not at jail sorry, for a holiday. now and then was as' pleasant to her as it is to any other little girl. She stood by the nursery-window., and watched the trees ; the willows with their long hair streaming, wildly about ns the wind swept down upon them, the horse-chestnuts and the elms with their great branches occaking and tossing to and fro. ’ She'saw the tali' dahlias beaten down by the rain, and the ohina-astors trailing in the mud, and the yellow stream of water that went rushing down the carriage road to meet that in the street beyond. It was all pleasant to look at for a while, for there was no thunder or lightning, and Hero .was pot afraid of wind or rain when she stood in side of a warm nursery with her mother close by her. She grow tired of it, however, by pud by, and thou her mother said to her. —“Why. don’tyou-go.dawn-stairs,.Hero,, and stay with Leonard in the dining-room ? He is pasting pictures in bis scrap-book, and you can ask him to lot you help him.” , “Oh 1 I will then," Hero answered, and she Started off eagerly ; for she diked to play with Leonard, and in spite of her being such a‘cow ard, ho was Very-kind to Her, Ho lent her his dominoes and his solitaire hoard whenev er she wanted them, and when bo pasted in his scrap-book, he often gave her pictures and snowed her how to put (hem in properly.— Which was nil right, you know ; but a great many brothers would hare said, ‘Don t both er,” or, ’ “Got out of mv* way,” and sent the little sister off when they were busy about their own affairs.' " Hero knew Leonard would not, and she ran out into tho hall thinking how nice it would bo to out out pictures, and mayhe ho allowed to paste some in tho big book. Her hand was on the balustrade, and one was on the stairs, when all at onoo something black caught her 6ye at tho foot of the stair-case. The oil-cloth in the hall was very light, almost, white in deed, for it was imitation of marble; so any thing dark sliow.ed upon it very plainly. Tho thing that Hero saw looked extremely black by contrast, but w'hai it was she could not very well see, standing ns she did at tho top of a long flight of stairs, while this lay at the bot tom. Anybody but such n little coward would have gone closer, and found out if it was any thing to be afraid of. But one glance was enough for Hero; it was a blacky thing ; it looked like a bug, and it lay* just in the way of where. sho_lwould_iiayg , glio star 'ted book in terror,, and noWng ■vVomff'RTi.’vlr induced her to go down stairs while the object lay there. At the same time she wanted very muchto go down, not only because of Leonarc and the scrap-book, hut because she knew her mother would inquire why she staid up stairs, and she would he ashamed to tell, the reason,- So she stood at the top of the stairs for at least ten minutes, peeping over the banisters every now and then to see if the bug .had -moved but of sight. But no: there it ley etill.ou the white;oil-oloth, looking hack, and wooly and ugly' enough, hut never stirring from its place. And poor Hero at last so cold between her nervous terror and the damp chil ly hall, that she was forced to creep hack into the nursery notwithstanding her dread of her mother’s questions. Her mother looked up from her work as she came in, and said with some, surprise:— ' . “ I thought you were going down stairs. Hero. What lias happened to you?” for she saw in-the little girl’s face that there was some trouble. But of course Hero did not want to tell, and slip answered: “Oh! nothing. I don't want, to go down stairs now.” “Why not!” asked her mother. ' “Because I don’t,” said'Hero. “ There is some season for that,” her moth er said; “and I.want to know what the rea son is. Tell me at once. Hero.” Then Herb began to whine. “ I can’t go down stairs,” she said, rubbing her eyes with the back of her band, and- looking very mis erable. . “And why not?” asked her mother. “ Because —there’s a great big black hug lying on the oil-cloth, just where I have to pass!” whined Hero. . 44 Ah 1” said her mother. 44 1 thought it would ho Something like that, . A great big black bug J arid I suppose it-is at least as large' as an elephant, willi- a mouth like a lion : is it pot, Ilcro?” " 44 No, it'isn’t,” said'Hero, ready to. cry: 44 hut it is a big black hug. and yon needn’t laugh at me, either. Anybody would he afraid of such an ugly thing?” And she went pouting hack to the window to watch the rain again, wishing angrily that all the bugs in the world might he drowned in it. Her mother said no more, hut she sighed as she looked at the sullen face of the child, made so‘unhappy by her own fully; and her wish was that she might only soon And some .way to cure her of these silly and cowardly fears. Au hour passed by very slowly and drear ily to Hero. There was uu one lo talk'to, lor her mother sac quite silent, stitching away with till lu;r Wight, ami lloro was ashamed lu sjjtjafi, to her. 'X'ue ruin cuut hud iuuked pious uuc at Unit o.uly seemed dismal uow, ami there was nothing to do, tor she was tired of all ttie nursery books and toys, and uuly wanted to ho.down stairs with Leonard and the scrap, hook. ■ •'X can’t stand this any longer!” she thought at last. “I’ll go and sec ii the hug hasn’t crawled away.” . 1 £>o she slipped out of the room, went to the head of the stairs,' and looked cautiously down —only to start hack with a shiver the next miuute. The ugly, woolly tuiiig was there still. • “Ohldearl is it going to stay forever?” bought Uoro. “Shall 1 never get down stairs again ?” and she went back to the nursery mure disconsolate than ever, iier mother glanced up as she came in, hut she did nut speak to her; and another long time erupt b_) in dreary silence. A pleasant, fruity odor reached llero’s hose by and by—the smell ol juicy’apples roasting before the tire. ISho anew very wed that Leonard was doing it; nobody roasted apples so nicely as he, for ho hud a. knack of tying a string to. their stems so that it never pulled out, aud fastening it up to the mantel-shelf sothat they never tum bled down, and giving it such a peculiar twist that they always twirled round and found until all sides of the apple were must beauti fully browned, aud it was tender all the way through. She bad very little doubt that he ■ was roasting one for her as well as for him self, he was always kind to her, and she longed to go down and get it. But how could she? That wretched bug! She was sure it was in the way still. However—ns the smell, of the apples grew more sweet and strong— it would do no harm to go and look again. Accordingly Hero went, and found the black bug exactly in the same spotwhore she had first seen it. Evidently it was in com fortable quarters, and had ‘ ho intention of moving out of them. She leaned over the banister in groat distress and perplexity.— “I think somebody might come and take the thing away,” she said to herself with a fret ful sigh; and she had half a mind to call Leonard and ask hint tO'do it. But sh 0 ro . membered quickly how he always laughed at and scolded her for such things; and she knew it would be useless to ask his help. The kitchen was too far off for the servants to hear her, and besides, her mother would net allow them to assist her, oven if they should hear. She.could think of nothing in the world to do, and she was just on the point of bursting into tears, when the dining-room door opened sud denly, and Leonard came out. “ Hullo, Hero, Sherd! what are you doing up there ? Como down and got a roosted op- Elo," he called out in his boisterous way, as o caught sight of her,Utt)o forlorn face peer ing over-the banister. “ I can’t,” said Hero very dismally. .Jl-Whyjiot.? Havo.you.boon, punished?” _ ” No,” drawled Hero. “ Why don’t you come down then ?” asked Leonard, impatiently. 1 ” I don’t want to," said Hero, which was a Very wrong story, os we oil know, when she wanted nothing else .so much. But she know ho would laugh at hor so, that she did not dare to tell the truth; and consequently she had the mortification of hearing'him say, as i he walked hack to the dining-room, . ; i 14 Oh 1 very well! If you don’t want to, it’s j nothing'to me. Stay there by all means. I can eat tho apples myself.” Leonard was proud, yoii see, like most boys; and when he offered a favor, didn’t like to have it refused. And as'for poor little Hero, why, it served her right, of course, for being such a coward, and telling a wrong story; but she was very miserable, nevertheless, and this time she could not help showing it. Just ns soon as she heard the dining-room door slain to, sho sat down on tho stair-step, and hid her face in her apron, and cried in good earnest. For all that, the obstinate bug never stirred ; and when Hero looked down into tho hall again, after she had cried till sho was tired, it Iny there still. Never was there such a long morning. The nursery felt like a prison, and Hero thought she should die of loneliness and fatigue.— Twelve o’clock, one o’clock came, and at last the dinner-bell rang. Her mother folded up her work, and put it by. . “Come; Hero,” she said. “I am going down to dinner.” “ But mother, that bug’s there still,” said Hero, miserably. a TiTO~gragfirr-Tncgii “ It's time to have done with this nonsense now, Hero. I insist upon your coming down stairs immediately.” She took , the child by the liamLjind drew her on in spite of her reluctance. *But at the head of the stairs Hero paused, after one shuddering glance downward, arid declared she could not go a stop further. Where is the.brig? I see nothing,” asked her mother. “ There,” cried Hero, tremblingly, “ down there!” And looking again, her mother really saw the terrible object. She did not stop to won derVhat it was, but ran lightly down , the steps, stooped the floor, and the next moment Hero, grew cold with horror, for she saw her mother actually take the thing np, and lay it out upon her open, bare hand. She laughed us she did so, and said: “Come down, Hero, and take a look at your ‘ big black bug.’ I.pnly want you to see what a wise child you are," . But Hero screamed at the more idea. “ I can't, I dare not 1” she cried, wild with ter ror, and started back as if to escape to the nursery. “ Como down when I bid you," her mother commanded, sternly. “ Como this moment, I say, Hero,” “Oh, no, no,no! I can’t, I Can’t!” scream ed Hero again. “ If you do hot come down stairs instantly, you shall be severely punished," her mother Insisted.' “ You deserve to bo punished as it is, and.it shall be dono unless you obey at once.” So llero .no longer dared to refuse; She came down stairs stop by stop, shivering in every limb, and her face as white as the wall. Her mother hold oat the bug ns she drew near. “Now look at it, and see what you' have been afraid of,” she said. ; And Hero, tliiihglrishe screamed at the first glaijuo, was ready to die with rimoto at the, iiOxf,-whofi she did suffer, herself to get a fair look at the thing. For after all, the fearful creature that bad kept her up stairs all day, and caused her so, many torments, was—what do. you think? A snarl of black wopd! That was the big bliick bug! Hero swallowed her dinner in shame and silence that day. Slip looked'so miserably mortified that even after his first great guffaw of laughing, refrained from teas ing her. As for her mother, she said., a- few earnest words to her that, for the first time, really made lan impression. Iloro determined, for the first' time in her life, that she would heartily try to conquer her foolish fears. Moreover, she said her prayers over it, and asked to bo helped in her efforts to do right. Yon all know that when one asks in that way, it is never in vain; and so you will believe me when I tell you that in course of time, Hero, really ceased to be' afraid of bugs and spiders; and, from being the greatest coward in the world, became a truly’bravS and - heroic little girl, so that her mother was no longer ashamed of having given her the name of Hero. PreDti.ee ana. The Southern organs do not hesitate to de nounce their whole Post Office establishment, as serving no other purpose than that of swindling the people. They say that it con veys, very little information to the citizens except the information that they are shame fully robbed. The Charleston Courier says that the deep shadow resting upon the soil of Kentucky must ho removed. Undoubtedly the ugly shadows cast upon her by the invading ar mies from the South must be removed right speedily. The man who, when his State is invaded, does not feel his soul rise in arms against the invaders, is a recreant and a traitor. And, if a man’s soul does rise in arms against the invaders, his body had bettor keep it com pany. 1 A Government is entitled to ■commlssera tion, when, in time of war, those, who should devote substance and life to its support, aro trying to sep how much money they can make put of it on account of its troubles. The people of all.the Atlantic cities in the South refuse to pay their Northern debts.— Well, they may probably find, when the big fleet gets down thoro, that, if they. won’t “ shell out,” they will he shelled out. The authorities of Ohio arc arresting, every day, some of the Knights -of the Golden Cir cle, and holding thorn for trial. The obliga tions taken by tbo Knights in Ohio make them murderers. Fellow Kentuckians! tho glorious old flag of our country floated over our cradles. Shall any other float over our graves ? It seems to us that martial law in Missouri is a dead letter, and might ns well bo sent to the doad-lettor office. ■, A lady wears a veil because she thinks it indelicate to lot the gontlomon look ut hor naked eye. Tho tree of a good man’s life has birds and blossoms and music and perfume among its boughs. Tho discharge of duty at this time involves the discharge of cannon, rifles, and muskets. two fellows call for pistols and coft foe, they are quite as apt w settle as.ffioir coffbo is. . The young Kentuckian, who will hot now fight for his Stato and his country, is not fit to wear the clothes of a man, nor yet those of a woman. Let him dross in bloomers. ‘lf the D. S. armies now involve, as they are said to do an expenditure of a million dollars a day, we hope they are earning the money. ** OUR COUNTRY—MAT IT ALWAYS BH RIGHT—BUT, EIGHT OR WRONG, OUR COUNTRY.** CARLISLE, FA., TITORS9AY, NOVEMBER 81,1861. THE FRAUDS DEPART i Report of the Congresißnini Investigating Coin mittee—Siltir Contracts, Brir berg, Enormous Btinti&C. Tlio Cincinnati BAqiiif&r has procured nn abstract of the developmchts mode before the Congressional Investigatihg_ Committee re cently in session at St." Ebuis reviewing the contracts,. &c., of -Fremont’s Department. Now that Gen. Fremont'S removal is n fixed fact, this paper poaaeaseS.yfory great interest. The Committee is composed of the following members:—Hon.'Charlds’Vnn Wyck of New York, Hon. Elihn B. YifWiburne of Illinois, lion. Wm. 8. Holman ofnndiana, Hon. Ru ben E. Fenton of Now York, Hon, Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts: Eton. Wm. G. Steele of New Jersey, oudfHon. James S, Jackson of Kentucky, Jlhn. Edward M. Ball, Scrgennt-n.t-Arms of. the House, nccoinapied the Committee, and _ T^ f J. Andrews, Esq., stenographer, as a chief clerk. A part of the com mittco-Mesßta. Washburno, -lllilniaii,.Divwpa niid Steele, with the Sergeant^ nt-Arms and Clerk—repaired to ot. Louis to' inquire into the condition-of affaire, in the Department of the West, .i,They were in ses sion in that city from Ilie lßth of October— fourteen days—working 1 twelve hours each day, and examining one Hundred rind twenty three witnesses. The manuscript of evidence, on legal cap, numbers 2,ji8.0 pages: The Enquirer, in publishing the testimony, gives only the pan bearing on the 'different heads of fraud, as summed up! in the Com mittee’s report. The. entire testimony has boon sent to Washington to bo laid before Congress nf its next session. The synopsis is a faithful abstract of llio-ovidonce before the ■ Committee, although many of the minor details have boon omitted::,. The first net of fraud wits the presentation to Mrs. Brigadier-General MoKinstry, on the 20th September, of ,a complete set of silver service, of the Jenny land pattern, which service cost $3,1)00 .and upward, and being the finest.made in the West, took- the premi um at the' State Agricultural Fair hold in St. Louis. This service was. prosen ted by par ties exclusively, interested* in- government con tracts, among’, whom wore Major Selover, Leonidas Haskell, John Ml Crum, E. L. Beard’, of California, and; others. General McKinstry was Quartermaster-General of the Western' Department,; by : appointment of Major-General John C. Fremont, and as such Quartermaster the horse and mule contracts; burliJihg'of barracks, and all supplies and purchases, appertaining to that Department; The bommittee in their report say, •‘The fraud? in.contracts in the Quartermaster’s Department are numerous and hjive. been clearly proven, and extend .through’''all. branches of his control and. su pervision.” . . Xu relation to the purchase of horses —the second act of testimony is exten sive as to the. various; Bbeiics- of .imposition .nnustimd^tlio as they are called, oeing hi'VriK easc'ot tho lessor magnitude. ’ A partyi.-cohtrnpts for a thousand head of horses at.51X9,50 per head, tp tho Guvb rnment, through the Quartermast er;. ’The Contractor’s agent, wife is approved hy the Quartermaster, has charge of the field where the contractor’s horses are to ho passed upon. A countryman, having,horses, to sell to the Government, pays $lO entrance foe to the field, whore his horses are examined, and upon the payment of another Tae of SIQ, they are recommended to the contractor, who pur chases, the same at the very lowest figure, which throughout the evidence, never exceed ed $B5 or $9O per head. The contractor takes his purchase to the inspector, who is also re imbursed by a fee, which amount is comput ed according to the quality of the animal The contractor, on .obtaining a certificate from tbo Inspector, demands the money of the Quartermaster, who pays the same, when 'the ionua for said , payment, ia jguaranteed. The evidence discloses several sucli schemes, and many other ways in which horses and mules are obtained. The’„testimony also shows that the horses, in, a majority of in stances, are of the most inferior kiiid, and have broken down or fell dead on the road. Around the depots where horses were kept thus purchased, numerous deadcarcases have been found. Omnibus and stage horses have been trottodout, “ full of branand peppered,” by contractors, who received §ll5 adjilSO for each hiirdb'th'oy furnished. Onojof the recent reports of the Boards of Survey will suffice in giving the character of horses Government furnished to regiments upon the requisition of their commanding officer. Other similar reports the Committee have on file: Camp Sullivan, Warsaw, Oct. 21, 1801. having been summoned, as a bord of survey, to examine and inspect the-condition of the bors’es forwarded to this regiment from St. Louis, and report the.result to your headquar ters, would respectfully report that wo have examined said horses, and - find severity-six (7ti) lit for service, live (5) dead, and three hundred and thirty (330) under seized, un der and over aged, stilled, ring boned, blind, spavined, and' incurably unfit for any public service, said horses being part of thh Missouri contract, Tory respectfully, DAVID MeKEB, Major, GEO. BOCK.WELL, Captain. JOIIN SCIIEI'I, Lieutenant. . The Committee also have In evidence that 11, S. District Attorney Jones whs associated with Messrs. Thompson and Bowen in the purchase of horses,and. mules, their contract being at §119,50 each horse. Bowen sold out to Thompson and Jones for $5,000, payable in banklmblo funds. Thompson went to McKinstry Tor payment on horses Messr. Thompson and Jones had furnished,- and was told that “ another party was interested in this horse business, and unless the $5,000 in gold was deducted by Messrs. Thompson and Jones, none of the money could be paid.” The $5,000 was-kept by and the remainder paid oyer to Thompson and Jones. ' : • Under this bend of fraud the Committee have testimony of over, half a million of dol lars sunk in hay contracts. The Quartermast er paid $17,50 per. ton for hoy in - boles, which, oni on'examination, is found to bo prairie grass, and hay of a very poor quality. The cost of transportation between St. Louis and Sedalia is about $8 per ton, $25 per ton, delivered at Sedalia. The Committee have accumulative evidence that fresh hay from the stacks, and in abundance, along the entire lino to Warsaw, can’be obtained pt $6 and SSportoini. —: In Government wagons the,evidence snows that largo numbers arc hero without any owners until alter they have been pressed th ® service, attd then the builders P r ®* on -.x claims. A majority of the wawntf ore unht for service. The axles, reach, bolsters, spokes, hubs &0., ore found to have been cracked, and the crocks filled with leather and putty, and painted over where the fraud was patent. Several of the wagons were condemned. The To Col. Wm. Bishop :—The undersigned Committee will report that a number of the wagons thus received ,by the Quartermaster ana bis agents have broken dawn before the army had proceeded far, and that all the wa gons will be useless after a few weeks’ ser vice. The third act of frauds is in the building of fortifications at St. Louis. On the 15th of August Colonel Hassondeubel, by order .of Gen. Fremont, engineered and surveyed the points within the limits of St. Louis fur the erection of eleven (11) forts. Under Col H.’s superintendence five (5) were built directly 'for the Government, without any intervening contractor. The. wages of. the laborers were 60 cents each per day, and tlfo cost of each fortification not to exceed $lO,OOO. On the 25th of September, when Gen. Fre mont knew that tbo forts, completed, would cost' $lO,OOO .each, Quartermaster General McKinstry. por order of Gen Fremont, made a contract with E. L. Beard" of Calfornia, to build six additional forts for the Government, similar in all reports to the five constructed by Col. Hnssendeubel; agreeing to pay 45 cents per cubic yard for all excavations, 55 thn a run ft fliyfe ATOftffn.. ted upon the bank of the fort and forming the embankment; for all puddled earth 90 cents per cubic yard; paving walks with brick or stone, floors of blockhouses, &c., $1 per cubic yard ; for oistrons, 25 cents per cubic gallon of 231 inches, arched with brick, crown and cofnont; lumber for magazines, blockhouse and quarters for officers and troops, sewers, &0., &., the lumber and timber to be measured in the building, $lOO per 1,000 feet; for fa . cines aud breastworks required an the work, $1 per cubic foot, and for roofing all the I buildings ‘with three ply roofs, $4,50 per square of 100 superficial feet. The total cost of the six fortifications figures upward of $300,000, upop wfjioh Mr. Beard has received $17,000, An additional payment of an order for soo,oo* from Gen, Fremont was stopped by the Secretary of War when in St. Louis. The evidences sets forth, that notwithstand ing Beard has received already three times the original cost bf the works,-the laborers are clamorous at the Government offices for their pay. The items 6t the cost of forts, as proven by other forts built, and.the evi dence of master mechanics, put the figures, viz : 100 per cubic yard for evacuations and embankments; puddled earth 30o; paving. &c., 40o; cisterns, &c„ 3o ; lumber nnd tim ber $4O a. 50 per 1,000 feetfacings and breastworks 35 a 40; roofing $2 a 2,50 and total cost of six fortifications not over $60,000. The contract for fortifications was drawn per order of Gen.' Fremont. The contracts is re garded by the Committee as irregular and in formal, exccptthat it provides that “ no mem ber of Congress shall be interested in said contract” The contract is in part irregular, for the reason, that according to the regula tions of the department, the Quartermaster only can make contracts of this kind. The fourth not of fraud is the house rent, -first in the palatial mansion of Mrs. Colonel .Biant.; cousin, pf Mrs, gossip Fremont, rented (‘pp.-.i-..!-Ptrmnn, 7\fn, jor General, his. private secretary and chief of , staff, at the rate, of $6,000 per annum. Other palatial mansions in the neighborhood are rented at similar rates, and occupied for offices of members of the staff. ' Largo and extensive barracks have been built in the immediate vicinity, as quarters for the accommodation of the Fremont body guard, numbering 600 men. The barracks will accommodate 2,500 men. Tho cost of these barracks and Benton barracks, capaci ous enough to accommodate 40,000 men, will be about §150,000, double the amount neces sary to erect precisely'similar buildings. In the roofiing of these buildings, which is up ward of 5,000 squares of 100 superficial feet, tbo committee have discovered much fraud. The contract provides that the roof shall be three-ply, and put on with felt and soaked in hot tar, in a substaintial and durable manner. The committee have evidence that the super intendent and architect, A. B. Ogden, receiv ed a draft of §7OO on General MciCinstry from. Clapp & Co., provided he (Ogden)mould obtain the contract for them at their bid, which was §3,50 per square of 100 superficial feet. A Mr. King, under oath, testifies that he gave Ogden a , draft on MoKinstry for $1,500 for his services in getting him the contract for .$3,25 per square. To each of these Ogden promised the contract. The work was awarded to Almen Thompson at §3,50, but whether any bonus was given does not appear. The Committee find that Thomp son soul the contraet for an advance of §3,000, and that the party doing the work-only put one-ply roof, and that with felt dipped in cold tar. In a few places there were only two plys. The facts were obtained by cutting in to the roof at various points. It is also in testimony that there were responsible bids at. $2 for this same work. ■ Another fraud was in the contracting with E. W. Fox for the manufacture of picket pins at 45 cents each, when Thomas Hood, a blacksmith, with good security, bid for the same at 20 cents per pin—the number to be made, 25,000 pins. Also to Fox and others, camp kettles at 35 cents, when there were bids at 20 cents ; nails, axes, spikes, &c., at similar fates. Saddles that wore rejected by the Quartermasters were purchased by Fox at low figures, and sold to McKinstry at increased rat es. 'i'ho building of sundry tug boats and char tering of several steamers at double their cost and value, particularly the chartering of sun dry boats, belonging to the Keokuk Packet company, have been gone into at length, and muon imposition found to exist. The tug boats are being built at a cost of $8,500 each, when they ought to bo built at $4,500 each. Other frauds in the purchase of oats, cloth ing, blankets, tents, &c.; the issuing of trans portation tickets and paying of employees in uncurrant funds—sucli ns the Onion Bank of St, Louis, 35 cents discount—instead of Gov ernment funds, &0., &0., arc fully in evidence before the Committee, but all are on a par with those given above. No friends wore found in the Commissary Department, but the report of the Committee will exhibit the transactions of the other departments in an exceedingly unfavorable light. As the Oali forriia contractors are alleged by the Com mit tco with being largely interested in many of these contracts, we give their names: Jo soph Palmer, of the firm of Palmer, Cook & Co.: Leonidas Haskell; 11. L Beard; Mgjor SolOvor, of the firm of Solover & Smrern, real estate auctioneers. I 0. >Voods, manager of Adnmn’ Express Company. Throe of these Gentlemen are lying m at. Louis in fine style and two are on Gen. Fre- I mont’s staff. , , ... XhT’Committeocould hav*continuod-their investigations further, but they believe they have gone to Carlo to examine a few witness es there. They will then visit Louisville and Cincinnati, and take evidence of any frauds existing in the departments of those cities. , A P.muiNo Hook. —A man has been ar rested in Cincinnati for stealing a box of prunes. ' 1 Borron of 801 l Boo—F»Bd£ bI Bicbmond, Vb. Written for the Montreal Witness by an ex- Montreal editor, who hat spent several years in the southern States in the sam^voeation. Tho battle of Manassas, or Bull Bun, os it is somewhat pointedly styled by the North erners, was a sad victory to the people of Richmond. In proportion, there wore many more citizens of Richmond present on the battle-field than of any other city of the South, and the loss of the Southern army was very much greater than was supposed at the North. I have heard Beauregard declare his belief that three or four Southerners fell to every Northern soldier. Bo this as it may, Rich mond, after tho battle,' wos veiled in mourn ing. • It seemed as if there was scarcely a family that had not lost a friend or relative; many had lost their head and every male member of their once loving domestic circle. Manassas was a hardly gained victory, though its moral effects were great ; but it was a vic tory that spread mourning and desolation over the land, for hundreds of the most -be loved and cherished amongst tho youth of tho Sputhfelfonthatffttaldav. -THT j.ney had gone forth in the flush and con fidenco of youthful hope and mistaken patri otism, and can wo wonder that no sounds of rejoicing wore heard, such as are usnal after a victory, however unexpectedly or hardly won, even though tho wail of the widow, the mother or the orphan child mingles with the hoarse bray of the trumpet and the shouts of tho victors. No song of triumph was sungin Richmond, or in the surrounding villages; and now, for the first time, the people ap peared to realize tho horrors of the war they had entered upon, without seeming to have calculated its cost. 'Those who had cherished hopes, raised by the reports that those they loved were not dead, but only wounded, wore, alas, doomed to suffer a more bitter anguish than that of their follow-citizefis who wept over the bierg,of tho slain. No pen can ad equately describe’the horror of the scenes witnessed by anxious crowds, ns dayajw.day the wounded were brought in and carried to the houses of their friends or to the St. Charles Hotel, which had bflon fitted up as a hospital. I question, indeed, whether many of the bat tle-fields of Europe have been the arena of such horrible individual suffering. I have read of ho campaign, except that of Mo’soow, where the French soldiers perished by tens of thousands, in every conceivable agony that can offer a comparison in this re spect. It may seem absurd to speak of Mos cow and Bull Run in the same breath; but I do not refer to the relative magnitude of the campaigns, nor compare the numbers engaged, the duration of the ’ struggle, nor the loss of life. My comparison refers only to the pe culiar sufferings of tho wounded, as day after day they were brought into the pity in every conceivable and inconceivable condition of mutilation, and writhing in agbny where mor tification had not already supervonßd, or where the stupor which goherally ; precodeVdoath by 'violence, had not seized upon the, hnWcss vic tim of tliis frati'ioidiit In moft battle fields of~raoddnTlimW sKUllfil sUrTjßons and attentive nurses'have been in prompt attend ance, and the wounded have-jssoeived every possible. attention compntibleiwith their un fortunate position; but with the wounded of the Southern army, at least, this was not the case. Possibly n sufficient number of surgeons I could not be provided, and I Know that many I who were present were poorly supplied with surgical instruments, or with medicines of a nature to alleviate suffering, and that they did the best they could under the circum stances; but I saw men brought in who had lain for four-and-twonty hours on the field where they had fallen, unaided, and without, even a drop of water to slake their burning thirst. I saw men brought in delirious with fever, raving like madmen, and failing to re cognize their nearest and dearest friends.— Some wore borne past, upon whose livid feat ures death had already sot his. Sea piti ful appealing glance of the fast glazing eye being the only sign that life still lingered.— The features of many wore so distorted by pain' that they scarcely appeared to bo hu man i and, most horrible of all, I witnessed at least a dozen poor creatures brought in who had either lost a limb by a cannon bailor had suffered the amputation of a leg or an arm. It is hard to decide which of these two classes of victims had suffered the greater agony— those who had lain uncarcd for, save by some friendly comrade who hud bound his hand kerchief over the limb to stop the effusion of blood, and thus preserve the vital spark—or those who had endured the pain of amputa tion, either tOo hurriedly, or else unskillfully performed. . . In several of the latter cases the ligatures had slipped or bgcpmo loosened, the bandages 'had fallen off, and the bones protruded be yond the mangled flesh, while in bath alike, the bones and flesh were, black and fostering, and swarming with maggots. People shud dered and sickened ns they turned away from the horrid spectacle; women fainted in the streets—and yet there wore some brave wo men—mothers, wives, and sisters—who dared to dross these frightful wounds, when men, used to witness blood and suffering, shrunk appalled from the ghastly scone. Striving to conceal their own acute mental suffering, those angels of mercy lingered to the last over the dying husband or brother—and in more than one case to my knowledge, oyer tlrtj bod of those who wore strangers and friendless— striving to impart that comfort to the depart ing souls, which, .Heaven help them, they sorely needed themselves. It was a happy thing for those poor victims that in most instances they had ceased to fool pain, while consciousness generally returned an hour or two before death; but it is almost needless to add that recovery, amongst those who had suffered in the manner wo hove de scribed, was rare indeed. IVo know of but one instando of the recovery qf a man who had suffered the amputation of a limb on the battle-field. Horrida bella!— who a year or I two ago would hove dared, to prophecy that such scones would be witnessed in the heart of the model republic, in the centre of the State which Washington believed to bo des tined to hold the brightest rank in the Union, which he lived to see progressing favorably, and in which, in little more than fourscore years, tiio lost of his descendants, who boro his name and inherited his estates, was shot from his horso and killed—a Rebel spy 1 Wo have heard it said that reports have prevailed at the North to the effect that North ern prisoners of war were badly treated^ — This, so far as I have seen or heard, 1 can resolutely deny. That they suffer under many privationsjs true ;_but so do the Southerners themselves, Tn ho place Is’ there a greater prejudice against the ".Yankees” than in Richmond; yet in very few instances have I heard them insulted, and in those instances only by urchins, who stigmatized them as "Yankee peddlers,” and wore always re proved by their elders, while the 'sick and wounded Northerners received the like treat- Iment as the sufferers among themselves,— IDoubttan inifenoepof cruelty have occurred] in the excitement of battle, ox in the flash of victory, or anger and shame of defeat) bat such instances occur everywhere and amongst every people. War, for the time befog, turns men into demons. Dark, daft, and saddening is the prospect. We con see no gleam of light through the sombre vista. The light'is there. Ivon good may come from out of this great evil; but even the most hopeful must admit that can only be arrived at through years of trouble. The country has been thrown back at least halfa century. More or less civilised nations must sufler through this mad folly of the nineteenth century, which neither civilisation nor Christianity has. been able to so great is the strength of man’s evil pas sions when, as an individual or a nation, they obtain tho mastery over him. The Post Office Window. —The Philadel phia North American is responsible for the following: A Milesian female approaches. She. is short and angular, with a hatchet-shaped face, and a hatchet-edged voice. tion. “ What letter ?” asks the clerk. “ Nivor mind now; 1 want me three cints.” “What three cents?” “ The three cinta I gov ye to eind a letther to New Yorriok.” “ What do you want the three cents for, then?” “ Because the letther niter wint." “And how do you know it never went?" “ Because whin me sister answered it, she said she niver got it." “ How could she answer it if she never cot it?" “Arrah, hould jer head. Will ye get xno me three cints, or won’t ye ?” “No, ma’am: you must be crasy to sale it." “ Is it mo Gravy ?" “ Certainly, crazy ns a bedbug.” “Bad luck to ye, and is it'the likes of.ye that dare call me a bedbug? Is there any other way of gettin’ at ye except through this little windy 7" asked the now furious woman, “No ma’am, no other way." “ Faith, it’s lucky for you then. Air there was, I’d come and welt ye like, an ould shoe. Nivor mind,” continued the lady as away. “ I’ll till me husband to-night, and he’ll dot the two eyes of ye, so he will." C7*“ Jim, I suppose you are a very good scholar ?” “ quite so good as I ought to- bo,' Sam—why ?” “ Because I just wanted to ask you■ o. question." “What is it, Sam?”— “Have you over studied arithmetic?" “Of course.” “Well, now, suppose' that a man should buy a pair of chickens at twelve and a half cents n pound, and the chickens weighed seven pounds and a quarter, what do you think they’d come to?" “Was it in the morning?” “What has that to do with it?” “ A groat deal; because if it was in tho morn ing, and my wife bought ’em, *1 know just what they’d come to.” “What would they como to?” “A chicken pot pie and a mighty sua f den disappearance,” “Bab, I have no. time for [ trifling.” Princely Generosity. —Our highly es teemed fellow-citizen, John G. Hires; Esq, has given substantial evidence of bispatriot ism and devotion to the Union in bis munifi cent contribution to tbe First Diutriot Regi ment, Col. James A. Tail, flic wife of every soldier receives $lO per month, and $1 addi tional per month for each child. The amount so far contributed exceeds $l,OOO, and up to May, 18G2, it will exceed $lO,OOO in the ag gregate, a larger proportionate contribution than that given by any -State of the Union, and exclusively from the private resources of Mr. Rives.— Washington Star. . ■ A good story is told of the lato-W. B. Rurton which vre nave never seen ini print. While travelling on a steamboat down' the Hudson, he seated himself at the table and called for some beofstake Tbe waiter fur nished him with a small strip of the article, such as travellers are usually put elf with.— Taking it upon his fork, and turning it over, and examining it with one of his peculiar se rious looks, the comedian coolly remarked,. “Yes, that’s it; bring me some. !C7” How bravely a man can walk the earth, bear the heaviest burdens, perform the severest duties, look all men square in the* face, if ho only bears in his breast a clean conscience, void of offence toward God or moo. There is no spring, no spur, no inspiration liko this. ' To feel, that we have omitted on task, and loft no obligation unfulfilled, this fills the heart with satisfaction and the soul with strength. CC7" A happy comment on the annihilation of time and space by locomotive agency is as followsA little child, who rode fifty miles in a railroad train, then took a coach to her uncle’s house, some five miles further, was asked on her arrival, if she came by the cars. “Wo came a little way in the cars, and then all the rest of the way in a carriage." A Brute. A western editor perpetrates or steals the following on “Father Adam i" Ho laid him down nnd slept, and from‘his side, A woman in.hor magic beaalj rose; Dazzled and charmed bo called that woman bride. And his first sleep became bis last repose. A Young lady fond of the pomps and vani ties of the world, hod beautiful sot of jewelry. She became ‘convicted.’ In relating her ex jorienoo she said, ‘When I bad found tho jord, I was convinced that if I continued to wear tho jewelry I should go hell; and so I took it off and gave it to my sistea. IC7” Quilp hearing a lady reading lately, in a newspaper, that in certain parts of Wales it is the custom to plant thorns and thistles on tho graves of old bachelors, remarked,— - “That is another instance of tho great law of compensation. If one escapes thorns and thistles in life, ho must -expect thorn after death." S®* If you want to have a man for your (riend, never got the ill-will of his wife.— Public opinion is made up of the average pre judices of woman-kind. ■JJ®“Qood temper is like a sunny day, it sheds a brightness over everything ; it is the sweetner of toil, rnd the soother of disquietude. The Signal, a violently treasonable paper in Alabama, lived just one week. It urns a Signal failure.— Prentice. (E7* Directly a man joins the army, his views of life toko a. proportionate risa wit£i he heel ofhis boot* NO. 24.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers