New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1856-01-04
NUMBER 225.
The Fi1ibuster Excit

1llS E E4llDuStaT .G4clGeTnenC.
The Seizure and detention of the steamer
Northern Light in New York harbor on thu
24th, created intense excitement throughout
the city. The papers are filed with accounts
Of the affair. From that Of the Herald we ex-
tract come Of the most interesting and amusing
particulars.
District Attorney MeKeon, having warned
the authorities at Washington thata ilibuster
excitement was about to SAIL received the fol-
lowing telegraphic dispatch: ss
,s$Sits ATEoRrEv GErsRAL's OFgIcE. 4
JohnM Kson, Egg U q District Attorney New Yogz--
The has ordered Capt BigeIom to arrest and
any vessel on your sdVce and deares you to act
-. CUSHING.
MIR. McKeon advanced to the gang plank,
which they were then hauling in; he sprung
on that part Of the plank resting on the spring
piece, and thus became elevated above the mass
of the crowd. s'Don't haul this gang plank in -
cried Dir. McKeon. Get off the end OF that
plank, |, roared ont the men on board the vessel.
fhis I! vessel cannot go,' cried ont Mr. Nc
neon, neon, IN loud voice. Then, turning to the
men men on deck, the flibusters, he said, ssBoys,
come ashore; this steamer can'tgo; hold in
my I nand the authority of the President of the
United States to stop herr This was received
with shouts Of derision.) .eGet Of the nlanE.s,
sag ta9I the men on board; .spull in the plank.n
sDo' II you dare, said the District Attorney
LII !, nold every one Of you responsible for tie
low. oe.1u 's.1u t o'Ae Aei'
Not 60 fast" says the indomitable Jobn 4
VIII read you the Presidents authority To
niyseia We ana gapt; Bigelow, Of the Navy NE
polces--ss Read, read"
j ~ ar. NICK con commenced to read, when there
were shouts Of derision, Mr.. McKeon found II
impossible to read so as to be heard !: bnt saeinr
the Captain in the wheel house, Who had hee1
attracted there by the noise on shore, be aa-
dressed the Captain (Tinklepaugh,) crying out
70 him. Captain, this vessel must not go I
am the District Attorney of the United States.
ana nold the authority of the President to de.
tain her" &
The Captain appeared to avoid hearing the
District Attorney. 5.a 59S ie. VI
The District Attorney, seeing the determina
ton Of the persons in charge of the steamer to
get OF, and the evident disposition Of the crowd
on the wharf to sustain them, 6 cried out
. americans, will you not sustain your owr
Laws Whereupon one gentleman1y looking
man stepped forward and said, Z. By God, sir, j
Will stand BY you, for you do stand BY the laws
AT this moment officer Horton (deputfzed BY
the MarshaD sprang alongside the District at.
torney, who inquired of Horton here are the
othcers having in charge the execution of the
libel = There are four of them on board Z
answered Mr.. Horton
District Attorney Then, sir, they shall moi
take them to sea- E7E1i z
At this time Mr.. Clark and Mr.. Joachimsen
had returned to pier No. 8. Mr. Clark vent
towards the ship, and she Immediately put her
Trb in rnof l,,,,
and his assistant, Mr.. Peter Cook, who stood on
the quarter of the hurricane deck the observed
OF all observers, prepared for an Involuntary
visit to the shady groves of Tropical Nicaragua
Mr. McKeon had then left, and went to- the
office of the Nicaragua Transit Company. whera
he met Mr.. 10. i. White, to whom he read the dis
patch from the Executive. T
MIR. White replied TO Mr.. McKeon in the
most uncourteous terms, and said that he did
not care d-----n for the President Of the Uni
ted States or his dispatches
MIR. Mcheon, disregarding the abuse Of the
counsel and general agent of the Nicaragua
Company, proceeded at once to the United States
barge office, at the foot Of State street, where
he found Mr.. Vanbuskirk, who was the officer
in-charge of that department.. Mr.. McKeon
read to him the executive authority, and direct
ed him to take steamtug, lying off the barge
office, and to place on board a number of the
officers of the customs, then present, to proceed
at once to the revenue cutter lying at the oppo-
site side, of the river, to tow the cutter to the
North river, 50 as to intercept the passage out
of the Northern Light
Mr.. Mckeon then left to 80 to the Navy Yard
to confer with Captain Bigelow, whom he saw
Capt B. at once agreed to send the Gutter with
a suthcient armed force to detain the Northern
Light, if she had not left the wharf; he also
SAID he would have two steamers in an hour and
a half anchored off the Northern Light.
About a quarter before four, the Northern
Light left the wharf and proceeded into the
river, having on board the United States Mar
shals, intending, no doubt, to carry them to
sea, as the flibusters did at San Francisco,
The revenue cutter, in tow Of the steam tug,
moved through Buttermilk channel, SO az 10 in.
tercept the Northern Light on her passage down
the Bay.
The Northern Light came on in the direction
Of Eli Island, and stood down the bay with her
head towards Sandy Hook. The revenue cutter
went with the greatest rapidity towards the
Northern Light, and fred blank cartridge to
bring the vessel to. The Northern Light still
kept on her course, when the cutter then fred
q ball, which passed under the saforefoot" Of
the Northern Light. This produced the desired
effect; her wheels were Immediately stopped,
upon which the officer of the revenue cutter
pohAueu AoAs dAu UEouBut uer up TO Jne North
river, and anchored her near the Jersey shore,
under the guns of the revenue cutter. ~ :
On the return of Messrs. McKeon and Joach-
imsen to the District Attorneys Office, Mr..
Horace F. Clark again applied to board the
ship, to which Mr.. Mckeon replied that he now
acted under the direct authority Of the Presi-
dent Of the United States, under which bonds
were not admissible; and that the character Of
the transaction must first be clearly ascertained
before anything definite as to bail could be de-
termined upon. '.t0
In the evening, after all these things had
trenspired, Mr.. McKeon received the following
letter: ~
The captain Of the cutter requires written order from
Mr.. McEeon to detain the steamer Northern Light now
!. anchor with the cutter The steamboat is wait
ing at our wharf to take the order
Respectfully,
J. L.. VAN BUsKIRK Inspector.
Hon: JOHN McKEoN, o s. District Attorney.
The steamer is near the Jersey shore.
He thereupon issued the folloWin order:
New YoRK, Dec. 24-6k P NJ
SIR You will detan the steamer Northern Light now
anchor until you receive further orders from me-
Yours, respectfully.
JOHN McKEGN, District Attorney.
To the Captain of U. s. Revenue Cutter New York
Harbor.
Mr.. Joseph L. White, accompanied by Cap
ain Tincklepaugh, called at the residence of
hr. McKeon, in Thirty seventh street, and the
ormer apo'ogised for the language he had used
.oWards the Attorney in the early part of the
lay. He admitted that the detention of the
7essel was proper, as there were over hundred
men on board without tickets, and he asked the
authority of the Attorney to assist in putting