The daily clarion. [volume] (Meridian, Miss.) 1863-1866, 1866-01-30
ES SHE a STEAMER.

We have made an improvement on the old
ship of State. The generally conceived idea
! of that vessel is that she is gallant three
master, with sails set, and moving steadily
forward straight to the pointing of the com
pass, guided by PalinuruS whose eye never
quails to the storm, and is never dazzled by
the sun. This is all mistake. The ship of
| State of these United States is steamer
| We have the highest authority tor saying
| sO-nOne other than our late Provisional
| Governor and present senator In his proc
| lamatiOn to the people of Alabama, who
were left stranded by the sinking of the
I Confederacy, he said of the government of
the United States: she IS backing her
engines to take you on board No other sail
is in sight; England and France are hull
down on the horizon
This authoritative statement settles the
point that the United States ship of State is
a steamer, which, having shot ahead of us
| by the impetus of the late war, is compelled
to back her engines to take us on board
/ The great advantage derived from the re
cent application of steam to the old ship, is.
that the pilot, by pulling bell at his right
! hand, can go ahead on one wheel, while he
backs upon the other; and by pulling a bell
upon his left hand, can back on both wheels
when he runs aground on Trent, Shenan-
I doah Monroe doctrine saud-bar. Ever
since the Provisional Governor, who must
have spoken by authority, pointed our droop-
] ing eye 10 Ile smoke SIdChS--Ol lIe STEAMER
/ Constitutional Union, we have watched the
! backing of the engines with intense interest.
A Jolly boat was launched TO take us Oh
/ board, but for nine weary months the jolly
boat has been dancing on the waters like a
cookie shell, while the gang-way steps have
| remained uncovered.
Meanwhile, several lighters have passed
us laden with bales of cotton from which
the head bagging, marked c. S A, has been
/ torn, and private initials substituted. The
cotton has been taken on board; but not we.
! The iolly-boat has been heavily loaded with
a District Court, and a pile of State docu-
ments, called emancipation act, repudiatiOn
| act, ratification act, &c; she is leaking
! badly. Still we are not taken on board; end
/ the steamer keeps shooting about and dan
cling first on one wheel and then on another
! On one wheel is written mo distinction of
color" on the other is written distinction
of color" When the mo distinction" wheel
revOlves it means negro suffrage i'll the Dis
trct of Columbia; when the obstruction"
/ wheel turns, it means differing black troops
with white men, and giving the negroes OF
| the sea-islands the lands of the whites for
| three years. But whichever wheel turns, a
negro may be seen upon the wheel house,
with quadrant in his hand. taking reck-
! onings.
The steamer appears TO be painted black,
and her figure head something like the sign
before one of our drug stores. Upon her
stern appears in small letters, which are not
seen by those on deck, the inscription, The
Constitution, Bound for H" The letters
after the capital H cannot be made out, as
the jolly boat in which we are tossed about
tends to distract the vision.
As we gaze upon her pufIng smoke aud
listen to her startling whistle we are temp
ted to apostrophise the steamer Constitu-
ton, and say with Longfellow-
I'VE know what master laid thy keel
What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel
Who made each mast, and sail, and rope
What anvil rang. what hammer beat
In what a forge and what heat
Were shaped the anchors of thy hope"
but as to how the engines got into thy
hulk, and the niger got to shovelling coal
into thy furnaces we cannot say, but most
respectfully refer you to the late Provisional
GOVERNOR Montgomery Mail