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EDITORIAL JOTTINGS. —They are now raising a subscription for a little boy aged sixteen, and a patient in one of the Alexandria hospitals,.who has lost both arms in'the service of his country. —Tho soldiers of New Hampshire are to vote, the Supreme Court of the State having unanimously de cided the law for that purpose to be valid and binding. The law was vetoed by the Governor, much to the sur prise of everybody, but It seems that his message was one day too late—the bill became a law by lapse of time. —Our assistant agent of exchange will in a few days start forSavaniiah with ton thousand slckamd wound ed rebel soldiers, to be exchanged for a like number of the worst cases of sick and wounded of our men.— A number of vessels are preparing to sail on this ex pedition. —The news from St. Louis is quite sensational, but no apprehension need be entertained. The flurry has no higher aim than to distract the attention of our military authorities, and, if possible, to delude them into the folly of dlvlc'lug the great armies that are now dealing such telling blows at the head and heart of the rebellion. —The North Atlantic squadron have active work ahead. Farragut is said to have been assigned to its command. He ran the gauntlet of the defenses of Mobile Bay, and he will do the same at Wilmington, The blockade-runners will then have no port of entry for their vessels, and the net now so rapidly enclosing the rebellion will be all the tighter. Farragut never falls. —Time is one of the most important public necessi ties of this busy age, and to save a few hours inven tions of every description have been resorted to. One of the latest of these labor-saving, money-saving and time-saving contrivances which has been brought out In this country is the Railway Post-Offlce Car. It has been in use in England for several years, where its success has been eagerly watched. Having proved to be of great benefit, its introduction into this country was carefully considered, and, after several fruitless attempts, it has finally boon adopted, and is now reg ularly running between Washington and New York, and we presume will soon be employed on other prom inent routes. —At the commencement of the war the rebels seem ed to beat us in their jokes, but we have gradually gained the ascendancy, after " climbing the Stone wall, passing through the Long-street over the Hill, and getting on the Lee-side" by a flank movement known to the Early-rising Yankee nation. A classical and patriotic correspondent gets off the following: " Let the rebels sing their ' Jubal Early,' we will sing Jubilate." On the same topic a cotemporary says that " this is the year of Jubal E." Still another gets off the following mournful adage : "Their corpses line the valky ways, And carrion pluck their flesh Inlirm— For, as the ancient adage says, "The Early birds must catch the worm!" The rebels " can't see " all those puns, for the reason that a Hood has been drawn over their optics. , —To give somo idea of the commencement of Gen. Grant's operations on Wednesday last, it should be known that a portion of his force was thrown to the north side of the Jamo3 river. One army column proceeded from Dutch Gap as a base, which is at the mouth of that curve of the river which is nearest Richmond. The river at that point forms a loop, and at the gap a stone may be thrown across it. Here it was Gen. Butler cut a channel across the neck, thus saving many miles of river navigation. The fortifi cations and entrenchments near (Jhapin's farm are on the old turnpike or Osborne's road to Richmond, which runs near the river by nearly-a straight course from Dutch Gap. Ohapln's farm is said to be about nine miles from the doomed city. The other column sent out by Gen. Grant proceeded from Deep Bottom, which is at the head of another of the curves of the James river, farther down than Dutch Gap, but high er in latitude. It proceeded to the Newmarket road, which leads to Richmond by rather a circuitous route. The intersection of the Mill road with the Newmarket and Richmond roads, the point at which Gen. Birnoy was left by Grant, Is some miles from Richmond. THE SOLDIERS' JOURNAL. LOCAL AND PERSONAL ITEMS. " The French from Flanders."—Late on Wednesday night last tho stillness of our camp was broken by instrumental music and singing. FeAV took the trouble to ascortain the cause un til next morning, when it was self-apparent.— The Second Division had received a temporary accession of about one hundred enthusiastic, music-loving and soldierly Frenchmen, or Ant werpers, or Flemish—wo can scarcely tell which —and very probably all three guesses are partly right—bound for Sheridan's army, the entire body having enlisted in the 20th Mass. "Vols. — Thursday morning found them in line, with knapsacks on, and an impromptu band of threo brass pieces and a drum. The band was insig nificant in force but powerful in execution—and far bettor music than we Americans could ex pect was forced from the four pieces. The Mar seilles Hymn was played, as they were about leaving, tho whole company joining in the cho rus, and while the band was engaged in the air tho company employed the interval in lustily cheering. And thus they left our camp for the front, shouting the refrain of their Natal Hymn and cheering the flag of their adoption. We be lieve they will reflect honor upon their regiment, and hope they may all live to enjoy the peace and freedom so soon to bo won by the bayonet, under a government they were willing to defend, as it were, " from the jump." Improvement.—The large artificial bank fronting on the Second Division of this camp is being beautifully sodded and guttered. The gutters are deep and built of white cobble stones, while the upper margin is being crowned with a low rural fence, adding much to the beauty and utility of the bank. Notwithstanding the al ready fine appearance of our camp, improve ments are constantly going on. " There is al ways something for willing hands to do," and the proverb seems well appreciated by those having in charge tho comfort and pleasure of the soldier while here. Repairing the Railroad.—We learn, says tho Virginia State Journal, that tho Orange and Alexandria and Manassas Junction Railroad is actually to be repaired and put in running order to Strausburg. A large force of workmen, pro tected by an ample military guard, has been sent forward for its repair. Tho work will be pushed forward with tho utmost possible dispatch, and it will be but a few days ere communication is opened with Sheridan's gallant army. The Chapel being erected on the grounds of Augur General Hospital is approaching comple tion. The roof is already on, and tho frame work of tho windows put in. It can now safe ly defy any storm until finished. It will bo a great improvement to tho general'appearance of the hospital, and a source of enjoyment to its inmates. The Order to Furlough disabled soldiers until after the election has not yet gone into ef fect in this vicinity, so far as wo can hear. It will be warmly welcomed by all interested. Capt. J. N. P. Bird returned from the front last week, and paid the camp a flying visit on Thursday last. His time having expired, he is about to leave the service. Transferred. — On Saturday last a large number of the inmates of Augur General Hospi tal were transferred to Hospitals in Alexandria. J THE LATEST _V__S"WH. Near Petersburg, Oct. 3.—Yesterday an at tack was made on Ayres' Division, which was bravely met and repulsed with great loss. Also an attack by Hampton's cavalry was repulsed by those under Gregg. The heavy rains have ma terially interfered with the advance of the army, but a general battle may take place at any mo ment. The loss on either side thus far has been light. Sheridan is still tearing up roads and bridges, and harassing the enemy. St. Louis, October I.—Nothing of a definite character has been heard from General Ewing to-day. At last accounts, he was behind breast works, built by a party of militia that had pre viously occupied the town. It was thought that unless the enemy greatly outnumbered him, he could drive them off. Railroad communication is cut both sides of him. There was great alarm at Franklin, last night, heavy firing being heard in tho direction of Moselle, twelve miles below. Two facts we learn from a gentleman just ar rived here from Atlanta, namely: That more than half the population of Atlanta preferred to come North, instead of going South, as was their option under Sherman's order; and that G3neral Sherman has received no propositions far peace ; but there aro indications that tho Governor of Georgia is willing to negotiate. Those state ments may be relied on. A letter from General Sullv's command, dated August 21st, says : Sully had another battle with 5,000 Indians, and defeated them. Ho is at Fort Union, waiting orders to return homo. He met three steamers loaded with supplies for him. He had only nine men, wounded, all with arrows, except one. Cairo, October I.—Memphis papers of tho 30th contain nothing important. Irwin's prison is al most depopulated, many prisoners having been transferred to civil jurisdiction. " Admiral Porter has been transferred from the Mississippi squadron. His farewell address was read hero to-day. It is not known where his new field of labor will be, but he has gone to New Orleans. Admiral Davis is spoken of as his successor.— Two hundred seamen went below to-day for dif ferent gunboats in the Mississippi squadron. Chattanoota, October I.—Major White, of tho 67th Pennsylvania, and a member of the Pennsylvania Senate, captured fourteen months since, arrived here to-day, exchanged by a spe cial arrangement between Hood and Slierman, without the knowledge of Richmond authorities, who havo heretofore refused to exchange him on any terms. DEATHS. The following deaths occurred in Augur General Hospital during the week ending Oct. Ist, 1804: 2('ith—Chas. Helsner, substitute of New Jersey; re mittent fever. 20th—Jacob Stetlor, Co. F, Bth Ind., remittent fever. 19th—Patrick Delaney, citizen teamster; intermit tent fever. AUGUR GENERAL HOSPITAL REPORT, FOR THE WEEK ENDING OCT. IST, 1864. No. of beds, 671 " admitted during the week, 203 " returned to duty, 32 " transferred, 21 " on furlough, 8 " discharged, 5 " deserted, 4 " deceased, 8 REMAINING IN HOSPITAL. From Rendezvous of Distribution 530 G. L. SUTTON, Surg. U. S. V., in Charge. CONSOLIDATED REPORT Of men received and sent to their respective regi ments during the week ending Saturday, Oct. Ist, 1864:—; Men received 3,1.51 Number of men sent to their regiments 4,151 W. J. SHELDRAKE, Serg't Major. DESERTERS' DIVISION. List of men received for tiie week ending Oct. 1, 101 Sent away, 87 Discharged, .- 5 In Camp, 4-5 F. T. STEWART, Lieut. 20th Ohio Vol., in Charge. Chas. A. Evans, Rep. Clerk.