The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1870-04-07
An OLD BLOCKADE RUNNER,

] =
the Cincinnati Commercial ssrites.3
"Captain Fem Peck Is as, CID and s7s-
cesstul blockade runner and converses
freely upon his exploits during the war.
He is sixty-four years old, hale and hearty,
! although touched with p$:aiysfs, and be-
! lieves that he VIII live to see many young
men buried. He was opposed 10 seces-
sion, but when South Carolina vent osi
he fell into the line with the rest o. his
| fellow citizens of Charleston, and, turning
his nautical know ledge 30 acco ttnt, became
blockade runner.
''Whensfer | found how things w.rt
! going, said he, TO ;hree or fou. OF TIE
/ Cincntatlkns seated in h3s cabin, slipping
otard and 7T@.eFf this morning. as the City
/ Point spread over the sparkling crest of
the Atlantic, ''l made up. my rssiH,f. !
bid sby folks good d-hye, and told them I
was going TO Kentucky and Tennessee to
BAY cattle, (and the jolly of4 gatr Ek1ghed
! 9t the conceit,) but | was going farther.
tGo4 an. old earpet-sack, some old
clothes, four' pouiras Of plug tobacco and
bottle of whiskey, and headed foFitsyafa.
vile, where | spent sne night My next
stopping place wdS at Niagara Falls,
where peoples baggage was examined by
the resenuo officers.
''What have you there ON s.ntfes
nian r asked a smart fellow, with gold
band on his cap.
ga few old clothes, some tobacco. and
z Bottle Of whRskc5," answered. '"W ont
| Jou Nave eoH4e 4?
$50, thank you Tot now" Gays he.
"Pass along
You better believe feel relieved s;r
you see l had stcrEng e.:charge for $780,
coo sewed up i.t a collar of al old coat
N Ea3 csrPet-sack, and I'd have felt cheap
going back to Charleston without it.
WelRy went to England That wae
! in duner 1861, and returped in Deceni-
Ber feliio1ing, with ship load Of arms
and munitions of war which were safely
landed in Charleston.
GLOW much monsy lEd you make Gaps
tain %
~1eEy sf, = maae $4,000 IN gold on
that trip; paid $1,000 9ias { owed. m
Charleston made my family comfortable,
and took e few thousand back to England
for safe keepTng Had $3.50, 900 IN
Confederate bonds when the war closed,
and Nave it yet"
''Do you ever expect to realize anytIf.g
HoTa them e.
'$2So, sis $500 = thisz. haa so-ae
! Eotion Of PaPering Lly sitting roozf with
thena last year 1&o, sir; all the Raoaey
made tuf CT fhe war just PAID thas degt,
kept my family in eorrAort. ana left me
81, 900 in gold on deposit in England"
''1ow long did you run the blockade p
"All through the war;
'Were you never caught ?" sf,ss
''No sir, never, but came near being
captured 5y the Rhode Island, off Nassau
/ was IN cemmand OF the Margaret and
Jessie, with cargo of cotton for England
The Rhode Island spied her and made
| right for us. They fired two hundred
and odd slants; several struck US, brt only
/ o=s Gone atsy darlages 1t tore four foot
hole in our boiler, and run. tte vessel
into she SHOALS at Nassau The crew
! escaped wreckers came doEan and saved
the vessel and claimed salvage. y
! :!~Did Eou run the same vessel alli
ttirough tie war 90
'eNoy.sir; 7 Commander ee7sra!L~the
! Bermuda, The Cecile. the Kate, the Mars
garet and Jessf,, and tbs Leopard, after
ward called the Stonewail Jackaon, 'Bhe
Cecile, Kate and Stonewali were lbgt the
! rest came out all right. made thirteen
| trips in all, and never weee caught look.
here, now, you mustn't tell this !; l see
you are takin' notes" -.
| -"Oh no, no wouldn't telf il tc a..Jt-
body for the world. Ohy no u
'fAll. right, gentlemen, let usstaks g at,-
: otfier drop Cf'sha4 brandy" -
"Where did you run principally Cap
! Tain p
'"WeIfi,, ST, -sOr,e< tfu,eF to Charleston
but mostly into Wilmington"
'|1Vere you not afraid of the toraedces
IN the Charleston .liarbor -
'tNo, g;f.. 7 had a chart ogtiie ilarbor,
tfepRred tS The Confederate engineers and
torpedo corps, showing where the things
were eunls, afid. efaiply steered clear Of
thenas The main ship charnel never was
obstruoted during the war, &IIds any ship
could have come in,. but It seems they
were afraid" d
swell, some of teen. didi corae IN, in
spite Of the torpedoes:" "a
Eyes, sir, the Irof.sides passed right
over torpedo made out of thirty-foot
boiler, charged:with 1000 pounds of pewy
der, and sunk only a mile from Fort Sum!
ter, but it seems as though Providence
ordered it otherwise. The ti.ihE@ dii66' ftI
explode as the vessel touched they tber
tried the galvanic battery on tie siiore;
for the torpedo corps were. ashore ez<
pecting to see her blown into the air, be-
the battery would not explode it either
/ always believed that the fellow vho fas
2 tened the wires fixed them. so they wouIt
not work. and a great many otlters wer'
90 my opihion,''