The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1877-06-16
An Old Sailors Yarns.
RUNNING TIE BLOCKADE IN BROAD
DAI.LIGHT-TIiE MOST EXCITING
TRIP OF TIE WAR.

''haS btPn a ttllln me or one OF TIT
biggest things in blockade runnin
that occurred durin' the whole war
and if so be as you likes to orde
'em filled up don't doubts that he
may be persuaded tor to spin the
yarn over agin, it lein' of a kinl
that'll bear reppatlnG.'
"Sle we're called" said Bill, as he
set his beer mug empty on the table
"Banshee No ,, in consequence OF
of the first of that name havin' beer
catched runnin' into Wilmin'ton arte,
havin' made eight round trips sue.
cessfully, and paid for herself -four
times over. Her captain's name were
Steele, and he were rightly named
for he were the plnckiest skipper
run with durin' them times.
"He was took when the Banshet
was catcled and sent to New York
sprnain' some weeks in Ludlow Street
Jail, and when he got ont he found
that his owners had builded this here
other boat expressly for him, and
they called her Banshcc No. ,, and
I gifts a chance into her as second
mate ir Havana, bound to Galveston
owe waited a couple of days artel
we was all ready to start, tryin' fol
to git pilot. There was plenty
offerin, but it were dreadful hard for
to git good one. The wages was
high and all paid in advance, SO if a
craft got saddled with bad one that
didn't know nothing there weren't
no help for it. and men Of the hight
sort that did know wern't plenty, not
by no meaus.
"Howsever, at last we secured a
long, slab sided, SILVER the mizzen,
which had been all his life a tladin'
atwix New Orleans and Galveston,
and ought to know the way if any
one would.
"Well, sir, we steamed ont of Il Sun
day afternoon, the new boat hehavin'
splendid and goin' at a pace that
would show her starn to anythin'
amost that toated, let alone one of
them tortoise like Yankee men of
war.
"The only thing as ! rcco||ects on
that happened goin' over were tenn
pest which we got the second night
out. Well, ! thought I'd seen light,
MIN and heern thunder afore this, hnt
this here we're the haShinest liyhtnin'
and the tlumpinest thunder that ever
| seen.
"The worst of blockade runnin' on
that coast were the fogs, which pur-
vented obsc, vutirns; and 81 after
You got in on the coast there were
no way of te'lin' where away you
was. We was bothered this way for
two days, knockin' about trying for
to git hold of somcthing,' so as to
know where we was. The worst Of
this were the draw it made on to the
coal pile. Yon see, you couldt get
coal in Galveston, and so you had
for to look ont and keep enough into
the bunkers for to 60 back with and
many a v'yage was spilled by havin'
to 60 back for coal, owing to bein'
detained in these here fogs.
"The third day, as we was a back
in and a film about, we stumbled
onto a man-of- war, and we run up
pretty nigh hard into her, hopin' for
to see the rest of the fleet, so as we
might know we was off the harbor.
We wer'nt afeard Of her, bless you.
cause We knowed we could run her
out of sight in short time. As soon
as she seen US she got under way
aud come for us, but we jiSt
turned our starn to her and went
ahead full speed, and in a quarter of
a hour she we're lost in the fog. Still,
we was glad we seen her, cause we
knowed we wasn't far off the en-
trance.
Next day we stuck her in on
and run the beach down.
Coin along, we seen large paddle.
wheel steamer hard and fast ashore,
and 'coguized her as a boat as had
left Havana two days afore US, aud
here sie..were piled aud her wages
ended. We run close in to her, and
tried far to signalize the beach, but
they didn't understand our code, and
80 couldn't tell us where we was. We
stopped the engines and let her drift
in with the swell as close as we dared
to, and when we rung to 60 ahead
up comes the engineer, and reports
wrong with the engine,
and we must anchor for spell till
he could fix it.
"Here we're a predicacy; we had
three fathOms under us, aud we let
go the anchor, but she were SO close
to the shore that VIC could't give her
much scope, and in the heavy swell
there wele hardly chance for US to
hold on.
"The old pilot he funked awful.
Hurry 'em up captain says he ; hur-
ry 'em up, or we'll all go to hell to.
5ether in ten minutes time
"Thcy'll get ready as soon as they
can says the old man, quite quiet
u fact, he were the only man aboard,
reckon, that did not lose his head
We KEEP a lead over the
tide and seen by the way the line
rended that We was a driftin' slowly
md surely on the beach.
"Then come the engineer agin.
Can l have ten miutes more 2 says
le.
"Yes, twenty if you want EN- says
he old man 'can you be ready III
en- minutes p
II can SIR was the reply.
"All right" says the old man
man the capstan all hands, and stand
" for to run the anchor up quick
If you want to have minits seem
ike hours you must get iuto a tight
'lace like that afore we got the
word that the engine were ready, she
trnck aft q half dozen times.