Life In The Trenches

A correspondent of thu Philadelpkia Tress gives the i'ollowiiig interesting sketoL of liio iu the trenchès : "Humboldt once said that the most exciting life that ono oould lead would be to crosa (rom peak to peak of the Alps on a cordt elastique and keep it up from duy to duy. That, indeed, would be a daDgoroua mode of life, but I quostioa whether it would be more exciting thart that which is every duy oxpeiienced by our gallant boys in the rifle-pits. They take their position in the darkness of the niglit, when the keen eyo of tbe rebel can net pierce through the mist botwecn tho linea. - The enemy raiso their heads above their woiks but thoy can seo notliing, can hear nolhiiig, avo the occasional souuü of a disuharged mimket. Our raen peer over the breastuork, but canuot see a living ihing. This is the hour ior stutiuuing men in the trenches. - BotU rebels and Federáis, covered by ihe thiek daikiiews that veils thein, are, for the, moment, comparatively friendly - nol of their own wish, but made so by the interpositiou oí Nature. ""Silently aud cautiously our men move down to their positions, each one is elationed where thejudgmeut of his oommanding offieer sees proper to place him, and he iiccordingly at once makes himself at home. The hole, perhaps, is not large enough to couii'ortably accommodulo him. Taking out his cookiug ufénsils, he begins with his bpoon to loosen the earth around his body, und then with his stew-pan ho .shovels it out nnd throws it upon the top of his breast-work. He works out for hiinselí' a friendly orifice to screen him from any desultory shell that might wish to disturb his new home. This he excavates at a declining angle of iorty-five degrees ; wben this is finished the 'offieer gives him his orders, all are commancieci to ao tneir ouiv. invoiy ono in his positiou. and now he is lelt all alone. A thiek ridge of earth, running at right angles to the breastwork, forbids a glance at bis neighbor, but he can talk, aüd be heard with distinctneas. He expects a hot day, and accordingly raises above hie head a sma'.l sheet oí shelter tent for protec tion ; the gray dawn of early morning has giveo the enemy a 'sight,' and a bullet whislles near his head, remindiag him that he must beawaio oi exposure. WorkiDg with more cautiousness, he arranges bis shade cover, and is glorying in his constructiva ability, frora the exercise of whicb expects soine little comfort, when another bullet, with terrible precisión, cuta tho cord which bound the tent to ils atake, and it falta to the earth. Tbat was a plunge shot, and he knows that one of those deadly sharpshooters is watching his movements irom the cover of soine near tree. "To more fully impress liis mind with this supposition, he raises his cap gently above the work ; in a second oí time a bullet f'roin the same direction striking it, sends it spinning on its axis. - Day has now been ustiered in, and it behooves liim tobe a are of his situation, and not exposo himselí' to the unerring aim of' the enemy's rifle. The sun pours down with tho most deadly heat. Stil! he canuot move ; he must lie watching his opportunity, as best he can, to lessen the number of his countrv's foes. Soon he summons up his courage, which tho sun, more than the enemy, liad well nigh driven frorn him, and hu oreepa toward the opening of nis riflepil. Then cofines un evont whioh in one case at least, actually ccurred. He espíes a rebel cautiously pushing bis way from tree to tree; his movemects betray his purpose, which is to aseend a tall pme that couimands a measured view of our lines. He gains the trei , and upon the opposite uide he proceeds cautiously to raise himself. Just as he reaehes a cross bough of the pine, and is about to move out upon it, the Uuion boy sees his exposure, and his only opportunity to take advantage, pulls lis trigger, and the gaunt rebel lalls headlong from that limb dead upon the ground below And there lies tlmt body until the shades of aight give üpportun'uy foi' itts removal. ïoward that point at dusk are aimed a score of rifles, and at diflereut tionrs thiougliuut tho uight vol leys nre fired iu its direction. Porhaps the inoruiug light will roveal the dcad bodies of a coro of rebels vvho had attempted to 'bring iu' the fórra of thuir departed conirade. So go the days, so the nights, of thosu iu trencbes ; o lite full of danger aud crowded witb inuideuts." A Ward saya : "II 1 ara drufted I bhull resigff. Deeply grateiul for tbc unexpeetcd honor thus contened upon me, I shull iel compullod to resign the positiim in favor of somo mote worthy persoo. Modesly is what ails me. 'i hat's whul keeps me uudcr." Persons i warm countries certainly possess power of imighuUion supcricr to persous in caía er effiries! The lolljuwing desuriptiou of a smll room will uppear very poetic to an EngHsh reader : "I atn now," suys a Torkistt spy, writing to his einployurs, "iu ao apiu-tment no little ihut tho least suspkion gannót onter it." TheRichmond Examiner saya Cbarnbardburg was burned by order of Gen. Early in caso $100,000 wero not paid in remuneration to Senators Huoter, Boteler and Gen. Lee, whose houses were destroyed by Gon. Huntei. Ganeral Shorman etyles McPberson's late cominand his corkserew, by whieh be draws out the obstinate cork of the rebel position.