Evening Star Newspaper, October 24, 1926, Page 85

BY WILLIAM J. WHEATLEY. ISUALIZATION of the oceans’ floors as steamers pass over the surface above is being made possible by the devel- opment of radio apparatus. A vessel may send out a radio spark and get its echo back on an instru- ment which picks up sounds not andible to the human ear. ‘Vessels now can come into a harbor @ay or night, and. can instantane- ously determine the exact amount of water under them. no longer being compelled to wait for the leadsman in the “chains” to fix the distance. means of this apparatus, being developed at the scientific laboratories at RBel'evne. D. C., it has heen possible to get a picture of the beds under waterways more ac- curately than is possible by the in- tricate survey operations heretofore mnecessary, and it can be done at con- siderably lower cost. The apparatus was born of*a war necessity. when it hecame necessary to determine the poritions of the enemv -uomarines, by listening for Sounds coming through the water from b r propellers and motors. These wwere developed to a 'fine point during the late war. but now come the “supersonics,” a new fleld of radio sound development which has vast possibllities for making water travel more safe. The term ‘‘supersonics’ refers to frequencies above the limits of au- dibility of the human ear. For in- stance. the human ear may be con- sidered a receiver, tuned to recognize sounds Iving hetween frequencies of 30 10 30.000 cveles per second. Sounds Iving above m are inav dible ani ‘he rocention of these sounds is accomnl ' hy the use of the heterodvns principle. Through the e of short waves it has been pocsihle ta telephone under | water and to telegraph 20 to 30 words per minute. consldered hv scientists an over the older methods of transmission and reception water. At presant many sclentists, hoth In this country and overseas are engaged in further development of this fleld Considerable progress has heen made in the prosecution of under- water sound resear h. as well as in ftx deve'opment and practical design, by the Navy Depariment, in order to meet its nesds in this fie'd_ Under the direcior of the Naval Research Lahoratory ai Peaitevie 1) C ound Afvision has esithlished, with Dr. Harver ¢ Hiyes perintend- ent. He fix assisted by Dr. B. Stephenson. phy In addition t 1t speeds of This is advance audible ivist the nsual laboratory equipment. two ha have been assigned to ihe divic A these have been provided wi h ments for conducting experimenial tests in sound transmission and reception These 1wo harges aro~ with limited living quariers for the nge of the personnel when operations are beinz carried on from the lahoratorv. A harhor tug with bat- tery charging plant. is being used for movinz one of the test harges to dif- ferent ‘ocations in connection with the range tests of the supersonic transmitters IR NI3 of the latest devices developed at the Washington Navy Yard is snitahle for with sound trans- mitters of any frequency above 500 evcles, including supersonics. It is 80 designed that the depth is indl- eated on a dial and at the same time recorded on a moving paper record which #dapts i'self to the use of re- Peaters at remote parts of the ship. Ry means of this apparatus, for instance, a_captain could remain in his cabin while his ship was entering New York harbor or traveling over the Great lakes »nd know every minute just how much water he was in, and by comparison with the charts, cou'd tell whether he was heading right or wrons. no matter what the weather was on the outside. Or a repeat n ne room would keep the engineer inormed as to whether Le had enough water under him to make it safe to main- tain suctions The “sraphic acoustie” sounder is @esigned for nse with sonnd mitters and receivers emplaving fre- quencies of 300 cyeles or more. but uze under | <o equipped | trans- | “ Supersonics, | | | i | | THE “GRAPHIC | | operates most satisfactorily in shal- | low water when the frequencies used | are more than 1,000 cycles. The depth is recorded on a moving sensi- tive paper record by means of the | discharge of an electric spark | through the paper. These recent developments may in, | most cases be traced to the interest| |aroused by the cruise of the United States destroyer Stewart in 1921, when it made a line of sonic depth | soundings from Newport, R. 1. to| . China, by way of the Suez| The problem of deep-sea work | | has been successfully met, and recent | tests have been conducted more par- | | ticularly on designs which attempt automatically to sound depths as shoal as elght fathoms. If this prob- | lem is solved, an extremely valuable | ald to inshore navigation will have | been found. | Aiding navigation of vessels hy underwater sound is not new. for, be- | ginning about 1903, light vessels and | certain light buoys along the coasts of the United States and the shores | of the Great Lakes have been aidinz | In safeguarding American and for elgn vessels by this means. In order to utilize these underwater sound sig- nals as warnings *or ails to naviga- tion, it is necessary for a vessel to be fitted with an underwater receiving device. The transmitting apparatus of the light vessels at first consisted of large bells submerged 20 to 30 feet beneath the water, while the ships’ receiving equipment consisted of two tanks, one fastened against the inside of the hull on both hows, in which microphones were submerged. The microphones, similar in most respects to the ordinary transmitters, were connected electrically to earpleces on the bridge of the ship. With this| system, a vessel, by considerable ma- | neuvering, could determine its ap. proximate bearing from a light ves.| | sel while five or six miles distant. In 1914, an improved transmitter. | { known as the Fessenden oscillator, | _was placed on the market and many | naval vessels were equipped with the:| | device. The Fessenden oscillator dif { fered from the submarine bell in that | a large steel diaphraghm, which form- jed a part of the vessel's hull, was caused to vibrate by electric current THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. 0. OCTOBER 24, 1926—PART 5. Increased Knowledge of Floor of Ocean Gained by Radio Devices SERVE. IT IS DESIGNED FOR MEASURING THE DEPTH OF WATER BY SOUND. MBODIES THE ABOARD THE STEWART. PRINCIPLES OF T " Developed as Result of Depth Soundings Which Were Among the Ingenious Methods Due to War Neces- sity, Have Been Carried by Government to High Degree of Perfection—Receivers Have Enabled Science to Cover Marine Areas in Short Time as Compared With Laborious Tasks of Other Days—Ships Have Made Soundings Which Reached Around the World. HE ORIGINAL APPARATUS USED THE U. S. DESTROYER STEWART, WHICH IN 1921 AROUSED INTEREST IN DEPTH FINDING BY SOUND APPARATUS. THE VESSEL MADE A LINE OF SONI DEPTH FINDINGS FROM NEWPORT, R. L, TO CHEFOO, INA, BY WAY OF THE SUEZ CANAL. at a high frequency,, radiating high-;lators for communication naval per-| pitched sounds into the surrounding | sonnel also noted that echoes wer water, ok ok HORTLY after the development of the oscillator, Dr. Reginald A. Fes enden conducted tests on the United tates (oast Guard Cutter Miami, wherein underwater sound echoes from iceber distance from the vessel estimated by checking with a stop watch time between the emission of the oscillator signal and the reception of | mine its echo hy the sound-receiving system. | water. Upon first attempting to use oscil- {tion, and that upon making a single | more slowly present, causing confusion in recep- lightship. The radlo signals were re. ceived by the Washington instaneous- ly, while the sound signals, travelling through the water, ar- from time to time by applying the ve- locity to the increasing time intervals between radio and sound signals. ‘The standard underwater sound ap- | oscillator signal, its echoes could berived later.” The distance between the | paratus, which was in use on our nav- | heard i times, in which casa the original sound had made five return trips be- | n repitition as many as five| Washington and the light vessel was | | determined by ich as are used visual range finders, battle practice, and vessels at the time | States entered the v | sisted generally the United orld War ron- of Fessenden oscll tween the bottom of the vessel and|hy applying the difference of time of | lators and microphone tank receive gs were obtained and the | the bottom of the sea. ! In 1911 the United States cruiser the | Washington conducted tests off Nan- tucket Shoals Light Vessel. to deter- the velocity of sound in sea Submarine bell and radio sig nals were made simultaneously by the arrival of the radio and sound signals the velocity of the sound signal was determined to be 4,800 feet a second Having determined the velocity sound in sea water. the Washington ran seaward from the light vessel and determined her distance therefrom The microphones of the later device | were tuned to a pitch of approximatels 1.300 vibratlons a second, and were | quite insensitive to sounds of lower {or higher planes. The Fessenden os- | cillator was tuned to a pitch of vibrations a second and could be used to some extent in receiving sounds of that pitch heing transmitted by other oscillators. During the World War the enemy submarine menace brought out in- numerable schemes for detection and destruction of submarines, but of all | methods suggested and tried that of | detecting and determining the bear- ing by means of listening to the va- rious sounds given off by the sub marine are found to be the most prac- tieal. The standard sound receivers then | in use on naval vessels proved to be | of little use because of the lack of ability to determine direction accu- rately and, further, to the fact that the microphones and oscillators would not respond to the sounds of the par- | ticular pitch and iIntensity given off by the propellers and machinery of the submarines. Under the stress of the submarine menace, the Navy, working in con- Jjunction with the best scientific brains available in this country, developed many types of underwater scund directional devices, some of which | were successfully employved overseas v British and American naval ves- sels in listening for and making at- tacks on nan submarines. he most successful type of sound ecelver which was developed under |the conditions described was capable of determining bearings of submarine | sounds, regardless of pitch and with- dtating changing the course stening vessel. This was con- sidered a great advance and a most valuable naval device. Toward the end of the war it was found that this receiver could be used to sound the depth of the water under a vessel by determining the angle of reception of the vessel's own pro- peller sounds which were reflected from the sea bottom. This device be- came available for peaceful commer- cial use for finding the depth of the ocean. * ok ok X fTHE Navy has found that the use of underwater sound receivers for sounding in depths from 8 to 40 | fathoms is very useful in navigation and permits vessels so equipped to obtain the approximate depth of the water in which they are cruising_at all times without stopping or reduc- ing Apeed, a8 necessarily must be done when using the hand lead or other of the weight-and-line types of sound- ing machinery. However, the accuracy and reliability of the “angle method” depends so greatly upon the expertness of the operators of sound apparatus that the development of devices which re- duce the factor of human error has been undertaken, and in this problem the Navy has met with no small de: gree of success. The time elapsed between the emis- alon of a sound and the reception of an echo under water, as measured b a stop-watch. can be emploved to de- termine approximate depths. and this fact has been the basis of the devel- opment of the sonic depth-finders which are now in use on many ves sels of the U'nited States Nav other Government department: The use of stop-watches. the best of which measures time to the tenth of a second, in determining the sound time interval in sounding is limited fn actual practice to the greater depths—that is. more than 40 fathoms. A fathom is six feet, and sound in water travels about 4.800 feet, or 800 fathoms, a second. With the best stop- watch, marking the shortest interval of one-tenth of a second, there would be a liability of an error, therefore, of 80 fathoms, or one-tenth of a second The sound must come from the ship go to the bottom and be reflected back to the ship; the total travel of the sound would be 80 fathoms or an actual depth of 40 fathoms. The difficult problem which the Navy had to solve was the development of a device that would measure the time intervals in sonic sounding within the limits of one-four-hundredth of a sec. ond. or the time required for sound to travel two fathoms through water. The ervor of such a device in measur- ing depth would be then reduced to one fathom ’ In 1921 the Engineering Experi ment Station at Annapolis, Md., pro- duced the firat model of a sonic depth-finder which met the require- ments in depths from 40 to 4,000 fathoms. This model wzs finally in stalled on a destroyer, and with {t a line of sounds was made from New- port, R. 1. across the Atlantic. through the Mediterranean and Red Seas, eastward to Chefoo, China, and thence to Manila, Philippine Islands. Similar or improved devices installed on other vessels of the Navy have sounded the Pacific from San Fran- cisco to Hawall and Australia: still others have sounded the Atlantic and Pacific on the normal routes from Boston to Seattle, through the c'flnll, until it may be saild that the Navy, by this means, has completed a chain of soundings reaching around the world, all made during the ordinary cruising of the vessels. .k ox ok Tlm largest consecutive survey of any part of the ocean hed ever undertaken was accomplished by two destroyers fitted with sonic depth- finders In 1922, when an area reach- ing from San Francisco to San Diego and from the coast approximately 40 miles seaward was sounded with sonic depth finders. The purpose of the survey was to obtain the topogra phy of the ocean bed along the contl nental shelf in order that interested sclentists and sclentific _socleties might study the causes of earth- quakes along the California coast. The destroyers steamed 6,800 miles at 12 knota during this undertaking, sounding the entire area of 34,000 square miles in a little more than a month. With the old methods of welght-and-line soundings this sur- vey would have required several years at a tremendous increase in cost. The result of the work done by these two destroyers, the Hull and Corry, amounted to practically a pho- tograph of the ocean's bottom over this immense area. Every little mound on the bottom showed in a much more distinct form than ever could be shown by employing the old_methods. The Navy recently was called upon to survey the route of the War De- partment's submarine _telegraph cable which serves Alaska. This cable has given considerable trouble for many years because Breaks fre- quently occurred where it was lald over submerged mountains and across valleys off the rocky coast of Van- couver and Alaska. The survey of the oc (Continued on Fifth Page) Rambler Discusses Old Washington’s Differing Views on AXY of the Old Capitol pris- oners. arrested in Washing- ton and its neighborhood in 1861, were freed in Febru- ary, 1862. The Secretary of War sent the following order to Gen. Andrew Porter, provost marshal gen- eral, February 21, 1862: “You will please release from con- finement on Naturday, the stant, the following named prisoners upon their enzaging upon honor that they will render no ald or comfort to enemfes in hostility 1o the Govern- ment of (e (nited That order was signed "I, s. Adju- tant General.” Names of the prison- ere released were: James Connor, James A. Donn. E B. Grayson, Hugh Adams. Georsa W. Gunnell, A. B. Williams. Withers Smith, uel F. Anderson. Isane John McDaniel. Lewis L Tames B. Loker. Ric L. Lee. D. C. Lee, Clarence Mills, J Ford, Rich- ard Hurst. James W. Savage, Regan, Thomas P. Fowler, John E. Rea, O. F. Potter. Jackson Benman John Penny icolored). Elisha C. Os trander. Calvert Beach. Vance L. Trumbull. Abraham Hornbeck. John Young. Lewis Younz. Dennis Farrell, M. J. Farrington, Willam Ward, For- rest Olden and William Joy. Tn another order, alsn dated Febru ary 21, 1862, the following were re- leased “upon their engaging upon henor that they will rander no aid and comfort to the enemies" of the United States: Summerfield Bail, Jeremiah Moore, John Harrover. Henry Simp- son, Richard H. Bavliss. Thomas Craggs. Matthew Plaskett. John Hais- lip, Willlam Hick. Alexander L. Mc nzle, Thomas 1i. Halslip W. Bayliss and Mahlon H The Rambler made it Sunday that it was not hard to get into Ol4 Capiol Prison. A word spoken, sober or drunk. that could he construed as wanting in devotion to the Government, the Republican party or the ruling adminisiration could land a man in fail Janney plain last private and amateur detectives were numerous. There were also enthu- stasts, zealous to do their bit toward saving the Unfon. There were loy- alist neighbors who overheard their Southern neighbors and their South- ern-secession neighbors. Tn the Spring of 1861 a great many Washington people held Southern opinions on slavery and the constl- tutional right of secession. Not all of them agreed with secession if it meant war. Their property and their business interests were in Washing- ton, and a split Nation would injure those interests. No man knows how many Southern people in Washington opposed the theory of the right of secession, or | how many opposed the exercise of | that right with force because their! consideration for the whole country exceeded their conslderation for that part of it in which they were borre. T assume that there were some. There were also Southern people in Wash-| * ington. whese propertv and husiness ! intergsts weve ere, who desired .suc: Public, | John | RBushrod | SECRETARY OF WAR S Photo_by cess for the Confederacy. If vou are an old timer in Washington the Ram- bler need not tell you this, but it may | interest tater comers. | P \I BELIEVE that in the Spring of {7 1861 the welght of public opinion | |in Washington was pro-Southern, and | that important parts of that opinion were pro-slavery and pro-secession. I will give you two bits of evidence. In a history of the First Congregational Church of Washington, founded by abolitionists, is this: “They (the Congregatignalists) found the hostility of the whole city ar- raved against them. They were an | antl-slavery church, more than that, | an abolition church: and Washington in 1848 was an extremely pro-siavery It was coripletely dominated by Southern influence. Nor was this . opinion of the rabble merely; it | \ s the bellef of the clergy. of the tzr, of all respectable inhabitants of the Distriet. The whale citv was church.” hostile 10 an antisla | slaves IMON CAMERON. Ha; Between 1848 and 1861 there was growth of opinion against slavery. Many slave-owners gave freedom to slaves by the last will or bequeathed slaves to the testator's children with the injunction that the slaves be freed after a term of years and suit- ably provided for during life. Slavery was a declining institution in the Dis- trict, Southern Maryland and north- ern Virginia when the Civil War broke. But the mass of people be- lieved that the legal right to own slaves was backed by a moral right to hold them. Freelng slaves was a form of charity, or an expression of good will, or a means of earning thanks of God. A man who might free his might shoot an abolitionist, and the mass of people in this part of the country who never owned a | slave did not agree with abolitionists that it was un-Christian to buy and sell humans and that blacks were en- | them 1let the cat out of the bag so | in Washington is shown by the fol- lowing, published two days after Bull Run, by The 8tar (W. D. Wal- lach, then editor), Tuesday, July 23, 1861: “The secessionists harbored in this city showed their colors pretty plainly vesterday—more so than they have dared to do for some time. Their ex- ultation upon the reception of the news of the repulse of the Federal troops was undisguised and some of far as to shout to their friends that ‘they wonld have Washington all right in 24 hours.’ Their Inhuman jov at the sufferings of the wounded coldlers as they passed through the streets to the hospitals was the most reprehensible feature of the traitorous demonstratlons.” Bull Run bolstered the hope of ‘Washington's secession population. 1t is usual for partisans to rejoice at a victory and they will rejoice in pri- vate if they dare not in public. The North publicly refoiced when Meade drove back Lee at Gettysburg and Pemberton surrendered to Grant at Vicksburg. No doubt there was pub- lic rejoicing in the South at news from Manassas, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. But I do not like the line in the preceeding paragraph: “Thelr inhuman joy at the sufferings of wounded soldlers as they passed through the streets to the hospitals.” 1 do not believe that a Washington crowd would show “joy at the suffer- ings of wounded soldiers.” The crowd no doubt showed joy at some comic sights. There was some hilarity in the streets as Bull Run_refugees struggled through them. Many sol- diers limped, not from battle wounds but from blisters on the feet. There may have been some big or little sol- dier in a uniform that had been as gaudy as a comic opera king's. He was dirty from his walk of 30 miles and from napping on the roadside. Me might have been cutting up as Nick Altreck does at the ball park. He may have been Imitating a gen- eral, giving orders to his army or showing the crowd how he made Beauregard's army fade away. It was something funny that made the street crowd show joy. * % x X "THE Union population of Washing- | ton, grown very large in the| Spring and Summer of 1861, did not | justly_appraise the engagement at Bull Run. It was called a repulse. There was excitement in Washington, but I think after-writers have thrown too much panic into their accounts. I take these bits from The Star of Monday, July 22, 1361 (the battle was on Sunday): - “Our army suffered a heavy reverse, but by no means such an overthrow as panic-stricken civilians and the sol- diers who fled in advance imagine and allege. The great body of our troop: are slowly retreating today In remark- ably good order. * * ¢ We may not inappropriately add that at 4 p.m. yesterday the Victory was clearly ours, titled to equality in all ways with | The retreat movement is ascertained whites. That there was secession sentiment \ to have been cau and trifling panie | by an accidental one regiment, to which it spread from confusion among its own teamsters.” jen. McDowell has returned to Arlington and the various regiments of his command are resuming their formes positions.” “I°or the seat of wa land of this city, having volunteered his services to the Government, was this_morning furnished with a’ pass by Gen. Mansfleld and started for the seat of war to render professional aid to the wounded.” “The steamers to Alexandria are suspended from their regular trips to. day by order of the Government, which doubtless needs them for trans- portation of munitions of war, etc.” Ort the evening following the battle of Bull Run the city councils met as usual. and the play ‘“Colleen Bawn'" and the farce “Boots and tha wan” drew a crowded “house” at the theater." Let us now turn to Old Capitol Prison. I have a list, dated March 17, 1862, giving names of prisoners. date of arrest and charge. You will see that some are charged with “assas- sination of U. §. pickets.” Do not he shocked. They were men of Mosby's Rangers or White's Cavalry of Lou. doun County, or were charged with glving information to those troops. They were released from the Old Cap- itol, and I belleve they were relensed on taking the oath not to aid enemies of the United States. I have the rec- ord of thelr release and will show it to you later. Here follows the' list, dated March 17, 1862, of Old Capitoi prisoners: R. O'N. Greenhow, arrested August 23, 1861, charge, forwarding infor- mation to the rebels. (Entry after charge: “Dangerous, akillful spy”); Summerfleld Ball, October 9. 1861, communicating with the rebels: R. J. Cross, October 10, 1861, giving aid and fnformation to the rebels; George {S. Watkins, September 23, 1861, fur- nishing information to the rebels; Ru- dolph Watking and Thomas A. Jones, same date and charge; W. F. Getty, October 1. 1861, having communica- jtion with the rebels; Alfred Nettleton, September 11, 1861, corresponding with the rebels; John W. Burson, ne date and charge: P. W. Carper, November 27, 1861, with Dr. Willlam B. Day, Dr. John T. Day, R. H. Gunnell, John B. Farr and C. W. Coleman, assassina- tion of United States pickets; Thomas E. Poole, James IH. Poole and Bernard B Poole, December 6, 1861, communi- cating with the rebels; John T. De Bell, November 27, 18681, assassination of United States pickets; George Cole- man. December 6, 1861, same charge: ‘Willlam Eaton, December 2, 1861, “found within our lines with citizen's dress over a rebel uniform"; Hosea H. H. Willlams, December 4, 1861, “claims to be a deserter from the rebels although wearing a urmform Uke New York Volunteers'; James ‘W. McCurdy, December 25, 1861, car- rying men cross the Potomac in a boat; A. J. McMichael, December 31, 1861, furnishing provisions and alding rebellion; W, J. Fleece, October 28, 1861 ippumon to Federal Govern- ment; R. D. Shepard, ir., and A. Shep- ard, November 27, 1861, taking up EDWIN M. STANTON A S SECRETARY OF WAR. arms against the Government: George W. Johnson, November 27, 1861, tak ing up arms and aiding the rebels; Moses P. Donaldson, January 5, 1862 transporting cargo of goods to Vir- gaged in carrying persons and goods to the rebels; Henry C. Brown, Janu- ary 10, 1862, coming into our lines un- der suspicious circumstances: Richard Coleman, December 6, 1861, assassin: tion of United States pickets; George Dent, jr.. and George Dent, sr., No- vember 11, 1861, furnishing informa- tion to the rebels, W. F. Moore, Octo- ber 13, 1861, conveying information to the rebel pickets; O. Allen Scanland, November 11, 1861, active In notifyi: Union men that were drafte into the rebel militia; John McDaniel, ginia; J. Barrett Cohen, same date, en- | T same date and charge; John Welsh, December 31, 1361, deserted previously from 3d United States Infantry: F. M. Eills, December 20, 1861, employed in secret service of Gen. MecClellan and communicating information to the rebels; James Farr, December 2 1861, assassination of United States | pickets; Mrs. C. V. Baxley, December |29, 1881, carying information to Rich- mond; George M. Gormley, January 110, 1862, attempting to enter the rebel | States; A. C. Landstreet, January 15, 18 evidence not yvet received; John | W. Crawford, January 18, 1862, al- leged to be connected with the murder of United States troops near Pohick Run, Va.; Bushrod W, Plaskett, same date and charge,, G. D. McGlancey, November 27, 1, and Jesse B. | Oliver | ruary Slavery Wharton, December 22, 1861, taking up arms and alding the rebels; W. L. Fisher, December 20, 1861. forward ing communications to the rebels: Henry A. Stewart. December 12, 1861, employed by _J. P. Benjamin, rebel Secretary of War; Charles Follen, De- cember 19, 1861, furnishing informa tion to the rebels and oppressing Union men: John F. C. Offutt, Janu- 20, 1862, communicating with the rebels and forwarding goods to Vir- ginia; John A. Marshall, January 3, carrying information to ~the : James Potter, January 30, spy and shooting Union pickets; N. Bryan, January 31, 1863 prisoner of State: Josiah E. Balle February 1, 1862, spy (rebel officer found in Washington in citizen's clothes): R. W. Rosin, prisoner of | State: Francls A. Dickens, spy; B. H. | Jenkins, M. T. Wal ith Mrs. Mor- Smithson; Mrs. recommitted: worth, spy. connected ris and Willlam T. Morris and Smith, connected with Walworth, sent to Washington by Gen. Johnston; Mrs. Augusta H. Mor- ris (same Mrs. Morris), spy; Thomas J. Magruder, February 11, 1862, spy, discharged; Thomas Haycock, Febru- ary 15, 1862, spy: Warren Curtis, Feb- ruary 13, 1862, spy, prowling about Unlon camps: Willlam P. Bryan, Feb- 21, 1862, spy and unquestion- ably employed by the rebel govern- ment: E. Pliny Bryan, spy, February 21, 1862, belongs to rebel signal corps. oo ok HE Rambler finds it necessary to leave the remainder of the lst for another ramble. The whole lst would make this story too long. But I have room for an observation or two. You see that Pliny Bryan was charged with belng_a 8 Capt. Bryan's home was Bryan Hall, he. tween Surrattsville and Piscataway, about 12 miles southeast of the Navy Yard Rridge. In February, 1862, to visit his mother. Susannah, he crossed the Potomac. and walked to the old place. Tt is believed that negroes on the plantation told Union soldiers of hix return, and he was arrested and taken to the Old Capitol.. He was not on a spying trip. but on furlough to visit his mother, who Hved to be about 90 and died, I think, about 25 years ago. She s burled in' St. Mary's Church yard, Piscataway. Pliny Bryan was not tried as a spy, but was held in the Old Capitol until August 27, 1862, when he was ex- changed for Capt. E. Blerer, 1lth Pennsylvania Volunteer Reserves. Pliny continued in the Confederats Army till his death from yellow fever, near the close of the war. Willlam P. Bryan and Pliny Bryan, arrestsd on the same night, were brothers. “'Uncle” Willle, as a good many boys called him, lived until about 15 years ago—my memory for time is bad. He died in Providence Hospital, and rests in the family lot at Piscataway. He left several children and a great many kindred. 1 can tell you th! before I kiss you good-by, that “Uncle Willle” was not an ambitious man and did not store much worldly wealth, but everybody in the country knew him, most every! liked him :fx: many old boys think fohdly of 3 !