SAVANNAH DAILY HEUALI).
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EVERY EVENING, SUNDAYS EXCEPTED, j
BY
B. W. MASON «£r CO.
At HI Bay Speket, Savasnah, Gb*»B6ia. ;
terms:
?«r Copy Five Ccnte
per Ilomlred -$3 s*.
Per Year $lO 00,
ABTEBTISIse:
A limited number of Advertisements will be re
eved at the rate of Twenty Cents per Line for
first insert ion, and Fifteen Cents per Line for each
*ubsequen insertion; invariably in advance. Ad
vertisements should be handed in before noon of
each day.
JOB PRINTING
i b every style, neatly and promptly done.
Bwrniug of the Smithsonian
Institute at Washington.
SEBHWB LOWS OF VAFFABLE DOCl
sir-VO. RECORDS, kt.-
The Library and Museum Saved.
Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 24. —This
afternoon, about 13 o’clock, a fire broke
out in the Smithsonian Institute build
ing, in the loft above the picture gallery,
between the ceiling and the roof, caused,
it is believed, by a defective flue. The
ceiling soon fell.in, and in a few moments
the gallery was one sheet of flame. The
tire, us it mounted the central tower and
burst forth in full volume from the main
roof was magnificently grand, • and a
curious spectacle was presented by the
steadiness of the revolutions of the
anometer or wind register, surmounting
the tower, while the fierce flame was ra
venously mounting to its destruction.
The windows of the picture-gallery
soon burst out, disclosing only the shell
of the room. There were two hundred
of Stanley's pictures here. He negotia
ted for their sale to the Michigan Uni
versity. Only five or six of them were
saved. The loss is very serious, includ
ing the lecture- roo'm, the philosophical
instrument apartment and most of the
valuable instruments. The offices in the
towers and the originals of the private
records and archives of the institution
were destroyed. The top of the princi
pal tower and several of the battlements
fell.
The conflagration was nearly altogeth
er confined to the main building and
above the first story, the latter contain
ing the museum,* which was damaged
more by the water than by fire. The
wings and corridors were not much in
jured. The large library in the west
wing was not damaged. * The furniture
of Prof. Henry and other property was
injured by hasty removal. The full ex
tent of the loss is not yet ascertained.
A strong military guard was in atten
dance. Great difficulty was experienc
ed at first in getting water. At no time
could all the steam fire-engines have full
play upon the flames, and it was late in
the evening before they were under full
control,
Tn& r ' Siiithsonun Institute. —The
fimithsonian Inst itute, which was yester
day almost totally destroyed by fire, was
organized by act of Congress in April,
1846, to carry into effect the provisions
•f the will of Mr. James Smithson, an
English Physicist, who died in Geneva
in 1829. - Mr. Smithson was the natural
son of the third Duke of Northumber
land. He was educated at Oxford, where,
in 178 t», he took an honorary degree un
der tfcs name of James Lewis Made, but
soon aiterward adopted the name ot
Smithson, the family name of his father,
by which he* was subsequently known. —
Several years before his death Mr.Smith
»on executed his will, in which, upon the
SAVANNAH, GA., TUESDAY EVENING, JAN. 31, 1865.
occurrence of certain contingencies, he
bequeathed the whole of his property to
the United States of America to found
at Washington, under the name of the
Smithsonian,lnstitute, an establishment
for the increase and diffusion of knowl
edge among men The condition on
which the bequest was to take effect in
favor of the United States having occur
red in 1835 by the death of a nephew of
the testator without issue, the Govern
ment was officially notified of its rever
sionary interest in the estate. The fact
being communicated to Congress, a joint
committee recommended the acceptance
of the trust. It was accordingly accept
ed, and Hon. Richard Rush was sent to
England as commissioned to prosecute
the claim. At the end of eighteen
months he was able to report the success
ful termination of his mission, and on
Sept. 1, 1838, deposited in the United
States mint the proceeds in .English So
vereigns which yielded in recoinage
#515,160.
In April, 1846, an act in eleven sec
tions was passed organizing the Smith
sonian Institution. The fourth, fifth
and sixth sections assigned the locations
and gave power to erect a suitable build
ing for the reception upon a liberal
scale of objects of natural history,
chemical laboratory, library, art gallery
and lecture rooms. The entire cost of
the building, improvements, -&C., was
about S32SJRKv but by careful manage
ment the Board of Regents, to whom
the management of the institution is
assigned, the original fund has increased
by accruing inforesTto '#655*.000. A free
library has been collected which is nn
equaled in this country as a resource for
scientific research,, and happily this use
ful collection was saved. from destruc
tion which yesterday threatened it—
The Museum, which was also saved had
attained a magnitude and completeness
seldom surpassed in collections for the
illustrations of natural science. Lec
tures, chiefly on scientific subjects, have
been delivered every season to large au
diences from every part of the country.
The contributions of the Institution to
science and art in this country have been
most important; and the destruction of
so many of its line collections will be
viewed as a national calamity.
Arrival of the Remains of Gener
al Louis Bell. —The remains of the
late lamented General Louis Bell, who
fell in the heroic assault of Sunday, the
15th tnst., on Fort Fisher, arrived in this
city last evening in charge of lieuten
ant H. S. Sandtord, of the Staff of the de
ceased. Lieutenant Sanford will pro
ceed with the gallant dead to New'
Hampshire this afternoon, where im
posing obsequies await the memory of
this gifted soldier, fallen in defence of
the republic —2V. Y. Herald , 25M.
Russia and Poland. — A Paris letter
writer says—
■ In Europe one item of intelligence has
created some slight uneasiness, and
which, should the fact alluded to be com
pletely confirmed, might possibly light
up a flame again which has been well
nigh extinguiifced. I allude to the tele
graphic despatch from St. Peterburg, in-
Sti mating that the Emperor had directed
de Berg to present to the Poles, for
tb ir signature, a petition desiring com
pete and final annexation to the Russian
mpire. The measure and the mode of
carrying it out seem both so extraord n. •
ry that one can scarcely conceive either
the one or the other to be correctly stat
ed. Should the intelligence, however,
prove true, it might re-arouse in this
country the spirit which the Emperor
has found it difficult to allay, and upon
■which he hoped, doubtless, that his re
cent visit to the Emperor Alexander at
Nice had put an extinguisher for a long
time to come- jMOA „ __
Extracts from Rebel Papers.
A Purgation of the Rebel Congress
Absolutely Required. —The Examiner
of Saturday has a long editorial on the
peace movements. It says ;
Once more it is time to have done w ith
this peace imposture, which Congress
persists in occupying itself about, Nay,
if Congress do not stop it at once, and
put down or brush away all who pre
sume to take up the public time with any
such trash, then that Congress itself will
have to be put down or brushed away.
Yes, superseded by a convention of the
Confederate States, and its members sent
to negotiate peace with one another in
private life, and exhaust the arts of
statesmanship in some sequestered spot.
It argues at length that there is no use
in talking about negotiations or terms,
that there are but two courses possible
to be pursued—one is a prosecution of
the war to a successful termination, or
an abandonment of the contest and un
conditional surrender, and that requires
no negotiation on either side. It de
nounces the peace men in Congress" as
being in fact in favor of surrendering
everything, and “They talk about
negotiation to secure our recognition and
independence simply as the first step
downward.”
In conclusion it says:—“lt may be
hoped that in Congress peace is now'
played out or reduced all aham-dum. —
Those who talk about it now really ex
pose themselves to a grave susspieion.—
It is that they design to make themselves
an anxiety to destroy
the confederacy,'anti to hereafter liaVC a
claim on the iavor of the Yankees at the
expense of tlieir country and their con
stituents. If this surmise should be
come ctu rent and accredited then, in
deed, Congress would be ripe for a pride*
purge or an eighteen boumaine”
{From the Richmon Examiner, Jan. 20. J
We find in our Southern exchanges
some straggling accounts of the Array
of Tennessee. It is stated that the ene
my was reinforced heavily by Steele’s
and Rosecrans’ forces on the night be
fore the baltle of Nashville. They at
tacked us next day in force, and a por
tion of our left giving way, we retreated,
the enemy pursuing, but w T e afterward
turned upon them, and, it is said,
whipped them badly, capturing some
pieces of artillery and many prisoners.
One of Hood’s officers informs a Mont
gomery paper that when he left the
army it was in fine spirits, on the way to
Corinth, which he thinks it must have
reached ere this without difficulty,
being no serious obstructions in the
way.
The report of Hood’s -supersedere by
Dick Taylor is confirmed.
Important from Brazil. — From the
Paris Patrie the following item of news
is derived :
A United States despatch boat has
been desirous to put into the port of
Bahia, where there was a mercantile
vessel, bearing the Confederate flag, lay
ing. ’ The President of the Province re
fused his assent, declaring that he did
not wish to see a recurrence of an inci
dent similar to that of the Florida. The
United States vessel, after remaining
five hours in the entrance of -All Saints
Bay, put to sea again. The affair had
no serious consequences, and it remains
to be seen what the commander of the
United States vessel will do.
Horn Paul A. Chadboame, of Wil
liamstown, Mass., in his eloquent tribute
to Mr. Everett,remarked—“His eloqnent
words remain, but his eloquent lips are
closed forever in death. He has comple
ted his warfare. We may place his stat
ue in the vacant place in front of the
Capitol, but his spear leans against the
wall, and w T ho is there left mighty enough
to wield it T
TAie Mason’s Gbavk. —ln all ages the
bodies ot the Masonic dead have bee*
laid in graves dug due East and West
w ith their faces toward the East. This
practice has been borrowed, and adopt -
ed by others, until it has become nearly
universal. It implies that when the.
Great Day shall come, and’ He who i.s
Death s conqueror shall give the signal
his ineffable light shall first be seen in
the East; that from the Na6t be wßi
make his glorious approach , will stand
at the eastern margin of these graves,
and with his mighty power—that grasp
irresistibly strong which sha ’J prevail--
will raise the bodies which are slumber
ing therein. We shall have been Jong
buried, long decayod. Friends, reU
tires, yea, our nearest and dearest, will
cease to remember where they have foul
us. The broad earth will have untUt
gone- wondrous changes, mountains lev
eled, valleys tilled. The seasons will
have chased each other in many a fruit
ful round. Oceans lashed into fury by
the gales of to-day, will to-morrow base
slunk like a spoiled child to their slum
ber. Broad trees: with broader loots
will have interlocked them, hard kuob->
bed as they are, above our ashes, as it to
conceal the very fact of our having
lived ; and then after centuries of life,
they too will liave followed our example
of mortality, and long struggling with
decay, at last will have toppled down to
join their remains with ours, thus oblit
erating the last poor testimony that man
has ever lain here. 8o shall we be lost
to human sight. But the love of God
nevertheless, will mark the spot, even
witnthe everlasting verdure or faith,
and when the trumpet’s blast shall shake
the lulls to their bases, our astonished
bodies will rise, impelled upward by au
irresistible impulse, and we shall stand
face to face with our Redeemer.
i . _ . Bl< .'■■■ ,
An Or u Texian.— The Galveston News
has a letter’ from “An Old Texian," who -
writes from “Egypt.” He says :
“I stopped at this place the Ith day of
December, 1829. I foul a son-in-law,
wfiio wanted to date ids letters Iron* seme
place, and he proposed to call this place
Egypt, to which I consented. He was
subsequently made collector of Galves- .
ton and postmaster here. When the
Texas through which
I fought, (and I know 1 killed some of
our enemies) I said 1o my wife : ‘Wb
have seen every thing but death, and 1
believe I would rathef die than see
another war.’ But 1 have lived to see
another. Well you may say ; ‘What are
you doing lor this war ?’ lam doing
about as much us one of my age can. for
lam nearly 74 years old. lam feeding
hundreds of soldiers and their horses
free of charge, and when they leave, 1
say to them : ‘lf you should pass this
way again, and want for self and horse,
please call in and yon shall have the best
I can give.’ This ‘is about the best I can
now do.”
We have only tt> remark that if idl
would do as much our soldiers would ,
have les3 cause to complain, and would
tight our battles with a much Letter
spirit. We inay add that wc know one
or two others in Egypt besides the
writer who makes all soldiers welcome
to the best they have, and evtrjrbody.
that has ever passed through Egyj»t
knows that we refer to Captain H.. for
one whose hospitality knows no bound#.
A.good lookiug Congressman, pushed
past the soldier who was guarding the
entrance to the iadies ear at Washing
ton the other day. when the blue cost,
stopped him saying, “ Ladies' car. sir -r*.
You cannot go in there." “ But,"
our friend, “I am a member of Con
gress.’’ ‘“Can’t help that, sir. If 1 let
you in here they will put. me in tU
guard-house ; and that ft a d—d sight
worse than going to Congress."
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