The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1877-04-20

"Speakin' of them old blockade run
min times" said Boy Bill the other day,
as he and the Old Sailor stretched their
legs under the mahogany, - mind one
celebrated wage made out Of VIII
min'ton. or leastwise av'yage when we
had some celebrated chaps along of Us
as passengers, which was Blanton Dun
can, Jake Thompson and Mr.. Clay, three
chaps a. we're sent out BY the Govern
ment 70 try for to patch up peace with
the Yankees, and heard tell they went
afterward 10 Canady for to do il, but
nothin much come OF it, and, any how.
they come nigh losin' the number Of
their messes whilst they was along Of Us,
70 my sartin knowledge.
..lou see. sir, il were in the steamer
Thistle along Of Captain Hara,of which
/ were second mate. She were a old tub
Of craft as had formerly been a passen-
ger boat 'twixt Liverpool and Ireland,
and the only good thing about her were
she were fast. there were no doubt of
that, but the less gales Of wind You had
in her the safer YOU was. cause she
Were ike the old woman's baby, too
old 10 suck
swell. we starts down the river. chock
full Of cotton below. and with deck
load Of il a well, and the ftlst thing we
know'd she were a-fire among the cot
ton on deck. and we had to chuck over
board bale or two afore we got it out.
We was goin' out of the eastern passage
and we anchored close under Fort Fisher
jist afore dark. The tides was .takin'
on, and we concluded we'd wait till
the next night afore we tried to 90 out,
so a. We could have more water on the
bar
sNeNE day Colonel Lamb. the com
mandant " the fort. come off aboard Of
uS, and. larnrn' who our passengers was.
he invited 'em for " come ashore. and
they done It. | goin' with EN- in charge
Of the boat. I'D seen some formidable
arthworks in my time. but | never seen
one ~ equal this. and we made up our
minds that il couldn't be took from the
sea nphow The Colonel showed Us
some little Whitworfh guns which was
on carriages 50 a. he could run 'em
along the shore wherever there were a
chance - get a shot al a blockader. and
he said he could land shot aboard of
EN- four or five miles away, and that he
made 'em keep 70 respectful distance
The sogers in the fort was the most half
starved. skillagalee-lookin' lot | ever
seen, and they hadn't no clothes on to
speak Of: barefooted and ragged they
was and the most Of 'em was boys at
that Wei. arter wanderin' round till
we was tired. we went off aboard agin.
and w found that big ironclad which
had been built in Wilmin'tOn had come
down and anchored near u, and that
she We're goin' out 70 have a shy AT the
blockadeF- that night, and soon after
there We're two other gunboafs come
down and anchored and there come
boat from one If EN- To ask would we
give EN- some white paint for to paint
the roof IF the ironclad, and Of course
we Civ EN- all we had, and Civ EN- al
- some other things, but il wsrnt more
than hour afterwards. afOre the COM
mandin' officer sends word to Us that we
mustn't try for TO 20 out that night. and
that If we interfered with his move
ments he'd sink Us. There were graft |
tude for You, arter we'd Civ him all our
paint.
We'll. one Of our distinguished pas
sengers. he thought he could 40 some |
thin for ", and took him in our boat. |
and we went aboard II the ironclad |
The Admiral, who were old United
states officer We're very gentlemanly,
sail - now ne We're very sorry, but ne /
couldn't possibly let a. 90 out ahead Of
him, cause We might attract the atten-
tion u the fleet. and % spilc his game.
and II we went out arter him Ne 1
might mistake us for blockader and
fire into n. Well. our old man. he said
he would run the risk II that. and tho
Captain of one Of the small r,lnboats
agreed ~ keep just ahead II us 20 A. 10
warn a. 70 turn back III 10 be az the IRON
clad stuck on the bar.
Early that evening the ironclad
started. and soon after we went on and
got safe over the bar and launched a
skill and put out our pilot. About ten
minutes after he left us we seen a fIasb
on our starboard bow, and Immediately
arter Inc whole face Of creation were
lighted up and we heard the thunder ~
the guns % the feet a. they replied ~
the attack Of the ironclad That wer'nt
no place for u, and we starboar,led and
fun up the beach a. fast a. we could
sseam. Luckily the flashes Of their guns
md their signal-lights and rockets de-
lined the position u The men-uf-war. and A
Hrter runnin' till We thought wa Ma
clear, W. parted and stood out 10 sea.
" wa- little too soon. hows'eycr. for
one ~ en seen us, and fired AZ ~. and
~. mad y starboard agin and run for IL. n
hen VIZ makes one right ahead. and .
'aAn Y pcrt agin and run or with her ,