Claiborne guardian. [volume] (Homer, La.) 1877-188?, 1877-10-17

queutlN, some III the OmcerS anC
sailors persuaded Semmes to use
life preserver. Marrs was picked
up By one Of the boats of the kear.
sarge, but jumped overheard. He
was picked up second time by one
OF the kearsarge's boats, aud a
second time leaped into the water,
and was finally rescued by a French
Boat, saving the papers which had
been committed to his care.
SemHes was very strict disci-
plinafian. When an American vessel
was captured, if il had on board AN
American cargo it was burned. II
the cargo belonged to Foreigners,
the captain was made to sign bond
for the value of the vessel. No
officer Or member OF the crew OF the
Alabama was allowed to take any
article from prize. The gentleman
who describes this service says that
he was once very severely punished
by the captain of the Georgia for
taking from the cabin of vessel
that was captured sewing bird,
worth onl y few cents.
BY a law of the confederate Con.
gress the officers and crew of tie
Alabama were to receive from the
confederate government one-half the
value of all American vessels de.
stroyed and the whole value>of all
that were bonded, but their claims
were, OF course, never paid. The
reason why prizes were destroyed
was that the Alabama was not
allowed TO take vessels which she
captured into the ports of any for.
eign country to be condemned. The
officers and crews of all captured
vessels were very kindly treated
while on board the Alabama. Dur
ing the day halfof them were allowed
to be on deck at all times, mingling
with the crew, while the remainder
were kept below. At night all of
them, of course, were confined. The
officers aud crews of captured yes.
sells we're also allowed to take with
them all of their private property,
but none OF them belonging to the
vessel.
The gentleman already referred to
says that very erroneous idea pre-.
walls in the North that the crew OF
the Alabama was composed of Eng
lish and Southern men. On the
other hand, during the most of the
time they we're almost exclusively
Yankee sailors from captured YES.
sells. In some instances the entire
crews of whalers desired to enlist
under Admiral Semmes. The adj
miral was accustomed to tell them
that the United States would hang
them all if they were caught, but
the reply generally was that they
did not care, they would take the
chances of that. When the Georgia
ran the blockade at New Orleans an
officer who was on board of her says
she had only nine Southern men on
board, and the remainder of her
crew of between fifty and sixty was
made up almost entirely of Yankee
sailors.
The admiral was rather insignif-
cant in personal appearance, short
in stature, quite erect, with a small,
sharp grey eye, and hair and beard
that would have been grey had ii
not been dyed. The latter con.
sisted of a fierce moustache and i'm.
perial, which, with his overhanging
eyebrows, gave to him rather a
ferocious aspect. He was dressed
in loose, light costume, and his wide
pantaloous did not hide the fact
that he was very bow.legged. In
conversation the admiral was cOurte.
GUS and pleasing.
do not think the admiral was
very successful as a lawyer. Gen.
tlemen who practiced at the bar
with him in Mobile told me that,
while in private lie was very genial
in his intercourse with lawyers in
court, and in the transaction of bust
ness generally, lie displayed too
much OF the imperious quarter deck
demeanOr to make him popular. He
was very extreme ia his politics,
did not approve of the liberal ten.
denotes of some of the Democrats of
Alabama, and was, on one or two
occasions, the candidate of the
Bourbon wing of the party for local
offices.