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£}aUtt iicraui. BY S. W. MASON AND CO. w .a , ■ - - - SAVANNAH, TUESDAY, FEB. 14. 1505. INTELLIGENCE FSiOII THE NOBTAERN DISTRICT. -i Ilea. Sehhmniliinnig Lands and Carrie* a Line of Works on James island. Capture of Prisoners, «fco. Wo hare received intelligence of some Op »r dims 1q the Northern District, De partrn *nt of the South, by Gen. Scffimi m . flu nig, which were successfully car ried, out. On the morning of the 10th, Gen Sc him mil fln.nl g threw across from P diy Island, a strong reconirqitering force, to the lower eml of James Island. A bridge was then erected across a .reek waiea intersects the lower part of the i-aand, and the force crossed over. Line of battle was at once forced, and the column pushed forward, carrying the first line of the rebel defences with a loss o. about sixty men killed and wounded. About twenty prisoners, in cluding a Major and two or three iine odicers were captured. The line was stai further advanced, holding a position within two miles of Secessionville.— Hearty and efficient co-operation was rendered by a gunboat, which maintain ed an effective'fire upon the left wing of the enemy, and threw it iuto confusion. At last ■accounts Gen. Schimmilfinnig retained his position, and was in a good condition for defence. Personal.—Major General John G. and family, sailed on the Arago i \>:n Hilton Head on Saturday last for the North. It is not likely that General .Foster will return to the Department, as lie is incapacitated from doing active duty in the field by reason of a painful wound he received in Mexico, and which is broken out afresh. He has suffered :£ieSiily from this wound, but neverthe less lie as ever displayed an energy, de termination, and vigor, that many men in the best of health haVd failed to ex hibit Gen. Foster bears with him the .boat wishes of all in the Department, in W&ttiVer sphere of duty and usefulness he may be assigned to. Maj. Gen. Q. A. Gillmore, has assum ed c »mmand of the Department. His reputation is too well known here, to need any good word from us. He is a courteous and skilfuH soldier, and a high toned gentleman, and one who will at tain a still higher reputation in the •campaign before U3. Oihi ofc Two Remarks. —We are com pelled, by the extraordinary change in the weather, to make a remark or two on it. It is nasty and disagreeable be yond all expression. Cold, drizzly, wet and uncomfortable ; it is tit only tor hy pochondriacs to seize, to nurse their gloomy, melancholy, and dismal fancies in; wear more lugubrious and funerral looks and make themselves still more dejected and despondent. The man that can exhibit exhileration, glee, or vivaci ty in such melanaholy days as these is anew Boeder in the world, and de serving bf attention, il he can commu nicate to others the secret of hlo happy ft bow of spirits. It would be worth a fortune in these dismal times. Rut when shall we be done with these win try days ? Is there’to be no Spring this year? Mr. Clerk of the Weather, can you reply? THE CAPTURE OP THE Gl T £RILLA HARRY G7LMEU. Washington, Feb. 7, 1865. —1n addi tion to the brief account telegraphed to the Herald yesterday, relative to the capture of the notorious rebel guerilla i and highwayman, Major Henry Gilmer, ; I communicate the following—- The capture was made by Maj. Young, of General Sheridan's scouts, who was in command of twenty-five picked men. Major Young had been out on a scout for three continuous days before the cap ture of Gilmer, tracking and capturing rebel soldiers and guerrillas at different points. On Sunday morning Major Young learned that Harry Gilmer liaa been in the country, in the vicinity of Moorfield, having received authority from General Early to consolidate McNeil sand Wood’s rebel guer illa companies with his own battalion, with the ulterior design of raiding on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad during the winter, and to take part in other operations during the ensuing spring.— The consolidation did not please the offi cers or men of the two companies named. Their dissatisfaction was ex pressed to Gilmer, and at the time of his j capture he was bn a visit to, an influeu- j tial person t© get his assistance in the ' matter. Maj. Young tracked the wily guerilla chief to a place near the South Fork river, three miles west of Moorfield. So accurate was his information in regard to the whereabouts of Gilmer, that it came down to the question of which one of the two houses he was in—one occupied l)3 r a it. an named Randolph, and the other by a man named Williams—each a short distance from the other. Guards were placed on both while Maj. Young in person started to search Randolph s house. As he approached the stable he saw a little colored servant girl, who stopped on seeing the officers. He in quired of her whose horses those were tnere iu the stable, and did they belong to soldiers ? She replied they were not soldiers’ horses—they belonged to Major Gilmer. This answer was satis factory to Major Young, and he at once started for the dwelling house, and was met at the door by the landlady. To an interrogatory put to her as to who was in the nouse, she said no person except members of her own family. The answer was unsatisfactory, and a" search of the premises was commenced, when, reach ing a room on the second floor, the door was gently opened, when Major Gilmer and tiis cousin, a rebel officer, were found lying in bed awake. Maior Young in an instant was at the bed side, seized Gilmer’s pistols, which were on a chair, and then asked Gilmer who he was. He replied, “Major Gil mer,” and then added to his eoatronter, “Who the devil are you?” The major replied, “Major Young, of Gen. Sheri daifs scouts.” . The prisoners were ordered to dress, and in a few minutes were attired in lull suits of gray. They were thdn taken in charge by me guard outside and marched to Winchester. A splendid black horse belonging to Gilmer, wnich he stole on one of his raids into Pennsylvania, was also captured. Major Gilmer on his march to Winchester begged that he might have some sort of a show given him in a race for his life, as lie was shamefully neglected by sleeping in a house undressed. He said any officer that slept in a house ought to be captur ed and shot. Gilmer always carried with him a thick English robe, made in baggy style, so that he could get into it and thus lie down in the woods and sleep.— He was always attended by a favorite bloodhound, who gave timely notice ot the approach of strangers. On the trip, Major Young encounter ed the rebel Captain Stumpp, of the Eighteenth Virginia regiment, of lrnbo dan’s command He made a desperate resistance to his capture, aud was only induced to surrender when perforated with bullets from the pistols of our men, from the effects of which he died. Ou the person of the officer, in his waist belt, was three revolving pistols, of very novel and peculiar English manufacture. They have twelve chambers and one barrel for ordinary firing, and an additional barrel for throwing siugs. The hammer is so arranged as to discharge one barrel at a time, or one chamber aud the slugs bar : rel at the same time. Tnese pistols are made especially for guerrilla warfare, and are the first captured by onr troops.— He?'ild. RATIFICATION OF THE CO.tSTI* TUTIOKAL AMENDMENT ABOL ISHING 1 ' SLAVERY. Augusta, Mb., Feb. 7.—The Main Legislature to-day ratified the constitu tional amendment abolishing slavery, and a salute of one hundred guns was j fired in honor of the event. Trenton, N. J., Feb. 7.—Governor Parker to-day sent a messags to both houses, enclosing a copy of the joint res olution passed by Congress in regard to the constitutional amendment to abolish slavery. In the Senate Mr. Scovel moved that the Committee on Federal Relations re port on it on Tuesday. Senators Chan dler, Buckley and Randolph opposed im mediate action. Mr. Scovel replied, chaigihg that the power which ruled New Jersey wanted delay, promising three votes for a re publican Senator and for till's amend ment. He cosid not lend himself to such a bargain. It woald not be kept. The motion was lost, Senators Jen kins and Kennedy, (dems.) and Scovel , and Horner, (reps.) voting for it. Lee’s Army PisciiED. —The Portress Men roe correspondent of the Norfolk Old Dominion says : “According to the stories-of deserters from the enemy, the damages ti> the Danville Road heretofore spoken of, threatens to become more and mom se rious. At the most these men- say, there were only three weeks’supplies iu Rich mond at the time of the accident, and the consequence of a famine is threat ened. The Danville road is the only one that carries supplies to Lee's army to any extent, and with ffs loss, the army must very soon suffer for provisions,— The country back of SSchmond is filled with teams delivering rations, and even the cavalry have been stripped of their horses to facilitate the transportation. As ail the rations that: can be brought into the city are needed for the army, the markets are completely denuded of all provisions, and everything eatable command fabulous * prices. Un less something can be done, and that very soon, the people of Richmond- will starve, as they are reduced to straits. Rebel accounts from the State of Mis sissippi say there is great activity in the rnovemeifts of the national troops- in that region. Transports loaded with them are said to be moving up and down the Mississippi river. The greater portion of General Thomas’ army, it is- stated* has marched westward, from Columbia aud Clinton, on the Tennessee river,, though a portion of it, including General A. J. Smith’s corps, is reported to be still in the vicinity of East port, Miss., and Huntsville, Ala. Tnere is said to be no change in affairs around Mobile. The rebels claim that the pirate Tallahassee escaped from New Inlet and went to sea. just after the capture of Fort Fisher: 1 A late fire at Summit, Mississippi, destroy ed twenty-three houses, six hundred bales of cotton aud large supplies of re bel commissary and other stores. A Freak of Fortune.— Mr. S Drake, an actor of Cincinnati, and one of the stock company now performing at Pike's Opera House in that city, was made heir by iiis grandfather to an al most fabulous number of worthless Vir ginia acres, which have lain unattended ever since—rather an incumbrance than otherwise. Last Saturday he received a a letter from a prospecting company, who have found oil on his premises, offering him the snug little sum of $270,000 cash for his premises. The St. Paul Press says the number of skins bought this year is considerably less than last year although the amount paid for furs is probably greater. The value of the fur trade in this country has grown from $15,000 in 1850 to $300,000 in 18(>4. Wb are indebted to Dr. Meredith Cly mer, Medical Director of the Depart ment, for late New York papers. j Telkglai uiic Communication in India. —We noW by last home papers that great effois are preparing to complete ] telegraphs communication from Europe Jto India ad China. Within about a | year from this time, Bombay, Galb, ; Calcutta aH Rangoon will be within two days tiegraphic communication of London oy Vie mere completion of the Persian GuF line. The circuit from Bombay to laugcon is now in working order, sotha} the- great centre span of communicatbn with China is nearly made. But his quite possible, in the absence of an/ efforts on the part of the local goyernnint, or at least of local en terprise, Singapore may continue shut out of the circiit long after communica tion is effected with China itself. Considerable discussion has taken place here and elsewhere as to the scheme of opening a railway between the Bay of Bengal and thA Gulf of Siam through the Isthmus of Iraw, to enable passen gers and goods t\> avoid the round of the Straits of We think the utter impracticability of any such scheme for ordinary traffic his been pretty w r ell de monstrated. Bull though the short dis tance to be saved, coupled with the lim ited extent to which it would be availed of, would never compensate for the en ormous cost of laying a railway of even forty miles, still, as far as a telegraph line is concerned, the route is one obvi ously calculated to shorten the distance of communication with China by some six hundred miles, and consequently to effect a palpable saving in cost. * The only ground upon which we at present depend that the line of telegraphic com munication will be extended to-Singa* pore, are our own commercial impor tance and that of Java. These are pow erful inducements certainly; but yet they are altogether subsidiary to the impor tance, commercial and otherwise, of China and Japan ; and it is quite possi ble that, to obtain an early realization of the connection with China, the shorter route, by Kraw, may in the first place be adopted, whatever may be the ulti mate intention as to extension -here.— And we know' from experience, if this shorter route w'ere to be selected, how' long the period would likely be before any further move would be made in this direction. We are, of course, talking of possibil ities only ; the chances are that the main route will be originally extended along the Straits ; but if this be so we certain ly have no reason to thank ourselves for ft, whatever may be our grounds for con gratulation. Why not iet us at once proceed to connect Penang with Singa pore; it will be a useful, and probably a remunerative line in itself, and it will form a span on the great highway of the telegraphic communication with the far East which will hasten our connection' with Europe, and certainly prevent any short cut departure from our doors, such.' as w.*e have shown under other circum stances to be possible.— Straits 'Times : , Major General Gillmore and staff sailed on Thursday Dr Hilton Head. Gen. Gillmore is appointed to the com mand of the New Department of the South, which includes South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and a part, if not the whole'of North Carolina. He supersedes-, Gen. Foster, but Gen. Sherman, of course, still remains in command of tile army in the field as heretofore. The past,services or Gen. Gillmore wiffle in that Department are a guaranty that he will conduct its affairs with the energy and activity for which he is distinguish ed.—N. Y» Tribune, 4 th. Bibulous was staggering along the other day after the snow, when an ava lanche from the house top thundered down, knocked his hat over his eyes, and himself to the ground. His admi ration of Nature was maintained so the last: “Splend’d ’splay,” said he, getting, up, “snowing ver-hard, and air filled with meteors!” Thieves, robbers and highwaymen are now, many of them, armed with anew weapon, called a “sand club ” It con sists of a canvass bag twenty inches long and four inches thick, filled with sand. A blow from this terrible weapon | leaves no mark, though its effects, if | received on the head would be tataU