Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1864-12-10
A South Carolina La,ta-

From Nep York to Bsaa7ort-TEe req,.lq, r..
of .sStednaers-At Fortress Monroe M.
Post1iastsr Of Jacksonville D,sllaess ., So,,,I
sr71 Department Success In Cotton gyo,s;u,
Yankee Notions naaltip(ying-lSale of ~
ta'sds--Services Of Iax Conaraissaoaers~
" SHERMAN coming"
correspondencs Of che State Journal.
~ BEAvFosr, s. c., Nov. 81, 1884
The United States army transport Fu,,o,
Captain Wotton, had the honor of conyevin1
your correspondent to this Department f,o,ss
New. York on her last trip down, save ,Da
The Fulton is large ocean steamer. formorS.
on the New York and Havre line, but sno!
the breaking out If the rebellion, charteroS
by the Government, first at 81 800, but NO.
and for some time past, at 81 200 per d.
coal being furnished. She and her sist:1
ship the Arago, make simultaneous trips he.
tween New York and Hilton Head, leavin,
either port once in eight days, the run os
seven hundred miles occupying from two n
four days, according to the weather, amour,
of cargo and tow. The sum paid for the nga
of these vessels seems at first sight. enor.
nous, but it is found to be more economical
to hire than to buy them, although they have
earned their owners two or three times their
original value since they have been in Gov.
ment service. Vessels bought by the Gov.
eminent get out of order much sooner than
those chartered, and hence run by officers
who have direct interest in keeping them
afioat. Uncle Sam is fine old gentleman "a
all his friends admit, but he cannot sail
ship to advantage, when he puts his own bows
on board, with anything short of naval disci.
pline. This fact is sufficiently attested by
the large number, not less than dozen, Of
army steamboats, waiting their turn to go in
to hospital" as their jolly officers (none the
less jolly for being under full pay while doing
nothing facetiously term hauling up for re.
pairs alongside the army machine shop at ST.
Helena.
The voyage from New York down was
quickly made, as are all the voyages of the
Fulton. We put in at Fortress Monroe for
123 convalescent 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 roof of the smoking house, looked up 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
Il
Roads, which this war has clothed with i'm
| perishable interest, were in plain sight-sucb
as the low island known as the Rip-Raps. and
out of which heavy fortifcation is growing
stone by stone Sewell's Point and the place
wnere the gallant Cumberland went down.
crushed and mangled by the fire and thrusts
of the murderous NeTTimdc. Several trans
ports were riding at anchor, waiting for the
| 5000 invalid rebel prisoners to be exchang-
ed between Fort Pulaski and Savannah, for a
like number of poor, starved and fever-strick-
en- defenders of the Union, confined in the
| muddy, open-air pens, known as rebel pris-
| Gus. 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 half, 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. Ed. 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
L
| 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 Aeg
lSotsH and the Free South The Palmetto Her
aid, having begun its existence only'i last
spring, managed to keep up circulation even
in the hottest weather There has been an
unusual amount of sickness here, but no yell
low fever within our lines, owing undoubtedly
to the excellent sanitary regulations enforced
by the military. s- t-a
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 0taheite 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 a
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, plows, 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.
/ said it had been dull here through the
hot weather. Now, however, everythiI z is
putting on new life. The newspapers have
started again; the lady teachers (heayen
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 StuFgis 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 g niggers"l And
the town lots of the City of Port Royal are
advertised for sale on the 10th of January
next. / send you plot of the famous EN-