Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-12-08
4 Scutil Carelins Lettar.

correspondence Of the State Jo,,-,o1
BEAUFORT, S. c., Nov. 81, 1854.
Inc United States army trans,o-+ Eli
captain Wotton, had the honor If oor- a''o",
your correspondent to this Departnen+' !Lns
New York on her last trip down sou ttou
The futon Is large ocean steamer for-, -
on the New York and Havre line. bn, 10y
the breaking out of the rebellion. cbar+o-oJ
by the government, first at 81, 800. but No..
and Tor some time past, at $1,000 per Do
coal being furnished. She and her sis+o1
ship the ArGgo, make simultaneous trims ho
tween New York and Hilton Head, LEAVING
either port once in eight days, the run of
seven hundred miles occupying from two to
tour days, according to the weather, amount
OF cargo and tow. The sum paid for the nsa
OF these vessels seems at first sight apor
| nous, but it is found to be more economical
to hire than to buy them, although thew bavo
| earned their owners two or three times tboir
! original value since they have been in CO..
ment service. Vessels bought by the Gov
eminent get out of order much sooner tbsr
| those chartered, and hence ruG nv ofScers
who have direct interest in keepinq them
afoat. Uncle Sam is a fine old gentleman a.
| all his friends admit, but he cannot sail a
ship to advantage, when he puts his own bows
on board, with anything short of naval disci.
pine. This fact is Sufficiently attested bv
the large number, moi less than dozen Of
army steamboats, wal ing their turn to 90 in
to " hospital" as their jolly officers (none the
less jolly for being under full pay while doing
nothlng,) taeetiously term hauling I'D for re-.
pairs alongside the army machine shop at St
Helena. w.
The voyage from New York down WAS
quickly made, as are all the voyages of the
Fttttom. We put in at Fortress Monroe for
Us eonvalescent soldiers, white and black
returning from hospitals to their regiments in
this Department.. The opportunity for see
ing the grim old Fortress, standing on guard
between the gateways of the York aud the
James, was by no means neglected. The pas
sengers, not being permitted to land, many
OF them, including several ladies, mounted
the root of the smoking house, looked I'D the
bay and down the bay, and strained their ewes
and glasses to catch the first glimpse of steam
erS coming up the James and from Norfolk.
Many OF those points in and around Hampton
Roads, which this war has clothed with i'm
perlshable interest, were in plain sight-such
as the low island known as the Rip Raps, and
out OF which heavy fertilization is growing
stone by stone ; SewelPs Point; and the place
where the gallant Cumberland went down.
crushed and mangled by the fire and thrusts
OF the murderous Me,7insdc. Several trans
ports were riding at anchor, waiting for the
5000 invalid rebel prisoners to be exchang-
| ed between Fort Pulaski and Savannah. for
like number Of poor, starved and fever-strick-
en- defenders of the Union, confined in the
muddy, open-air pens, known as rebel pris-
ons. Thank heaven many of the rebel pris-
| oners have now arrived at Hilton Head, and
the exchange has already begun or soon will
| begin.
Among the passengers was Ed. Reed whom
Madisonians will remember as a son of Har-
rison Reed. He had been out to Iowa in
search of his fairer halt, had found her, and
was taking her back to Jacksonville, Fla,
with him. Judging from the measure of his
success Iowa must be one of the best of
places to go to for that purpose. Id. is Post
Master at Jacksonville. Long may he and
his young bride prosper.
1t must have been fearfnlly dull in this De-
partment through the summer. Most of the
troops left here when Grant began his Vir-
ginia campaign were colored, and there were
but few of them. Two out Of the three lOyal
newspapers published in South Carolina I'M
derwent suspended animation, viz: the Ne1o
South, and the Free South The Palmetto Her.
aid, having begun its existence only last
spring, managed to keep up a circulation even
in the hottest weather. There has been an
unusual amount of sickness here, but no vel
low fever within our lines, owing undoubtedly
to the excellent sanitary regulations enforced
by the military.
A much larger breadth of cotton was plant
ed last spring than at any time before during
our occupation of the sea-islands, owing to
about 10000 acres of plantation lands having
been sold by the Tax Commissioners to pri-
vate persons from the North, who have I'M
dertaken the cultivation of the deposed king
Of plants. The growing of the long staple or
sea-island cotton is more difficult than that of
the upland, but Yankee enterprise has proved
itself equal to that as well as other difficult
ties. The crop this year has been about half
destroyed by the caterpillars, but its growth
has otherwise been very good, and most of
the planters are realizing handsome thing
on their investments.
The negroes On the Otaheite Plantation,
Port Royal Island, leased the cotton lands on
that plantation, of the Tax Commissioners,
last spring, and have raised 10000 pounds of
seed cotton, worth now about 40 cents
pound, here. They have had no help what
ever from any white man or the Government,
and have done their work chiefly with the
hoe. Of course horses, mules, piows, ETC.,
greatly facilitate taking care of the crop.
These and other facts which might mention
show that free labor, even here, in a district
where the slaves were the most numerous
and most degraded is a success. The negro
takes care of himself, and saves to the plant
er, for better uses, millions of capital, which
it would, under the slave system, be necessa-
ry to invest in slaves.
1 said it had been dull here throug the
hot weather. Now, however, everythis is
putting on new life. The newspapers have
started again; the lady teachers (heaVen
bless them) are focking back to their winter
tasks, by scores; trade is reViving, and ar
rangements are being made by a firm of goa
head western men, headed by R. E. Graves.
of the Sturgis Banking House, Chicago, for
shipping cotton on commission Uncle Sam
permits no one to buy; and the Port ROYAL
National Bank Association, of Beaufort, has
been formed, with a capital of $4,000, and
the Comptroller Of the Currency has promised
the charter. The Tax Commissioners have
advertised the school lands for leasing On the
4th of December. Think of that-school
lands for South Carolina "niggers"! And
the town lots Of the " City of Port Royap are
advertised for sale on the 10th of January
next. | send you plot of the famous en-
bryo city. 1t is located on the southwest
end of St. Helena Island, On the shore of the
fine bay known as Port Royal Harbor. 1t is
soon expected to rival New Orleans, if not
New York. The entrance to this harbor has
four feet more water than there is Oh either
the Charleston or Savannah bars, viz: eight
cen feet at the lowest low water. The Tax
Commissioners will advertise, in few days,
a sale of 10000 acres Of plantation lands, to
begin on the first Of February, and hold open
ninety days.
The Tax Commissioners, all of whom were
originally from Wisconsin, are doing the
country good deal of hard and useful ser
vice here. The board of commissioners, as