River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1879-05-29
GOING TO GIVE THE WEST A SHOW

Dick Thompson 8bout to Send NdTnt
VesscI to Cruise -4IoHG The Mis"issippi.
Washington Special to st. Louis Republican. /
/ his afternoon your correspondent had
conversation with the secretary of the navy
to the following effect:
Correspondence it trRe that you are
to send a naval ship to st. LOUISE"
"Secretary but I was trying to
keep the fact a secret. wanted to run q
vessel up the Mississippi river before any
one knew what was the matter, just 70 aston
Ish the natives"
Here the secretary enjoyed one of his
hearty laughs.
eyes" he continued, ''about the first of
next week the Wachusett will leave the
Charlestown, Mass, navy yard. | have been
thinking for some time of a way to give our
Western boys a chance to get in the navy.
They are too poor to come East, and am
going to send a ship after them. The
Wachusett is of that size and make of yes
sells that are called third class. She is
about 100 feet long, with displacement of
$50 feet, and has a tonnage of 695. She
is an old vessel rebuilt, and this will be her
first cruise since rebuilding. She is screw
propeller, three-masted, square-rigged ship,
and is the same one with which Collins
cut out the Florida during the war. She
was designed for six guI!s, but her broad
sides will be taken off TO give her room; but
she will carry two eleven-pound guns, which
think will be sufficient for all war purposes
on this trip"
Here the secretary again required TO the
novelty of the expedition. Tie said that be
could not we'll get man of-war around to
his home at Terre Haute, so he was going to
do the next best thing, and send one to St.
Louis.
.sThose Democrats out there in Missouri,
he continued, ''will swear ! am nsing the
navy for election purposes We will have
them fire gun or two to let them know we
mean business No, but in dead earnest
now, our Western boys ought to have show
and think this is the best thing have done
since have been in the cabinet. | wrote to
John Simpson. of the Yandaia road, asking
him to get for me some facts as to the pavi-
cation from some boatmen. The Wachusett
draws sixteen feet. gentleman who was
twenty-five years on the river says can get
the ship up to st. Louis at this time of the
wear very easily. She will go there and
when the river lowers she will be taken down
to Cairo where she can run all the
year round. This vessel is not adapted for
regular training ship. She will serve as
recruiting ship, and when We get her full of
boys she will run down the river end unload
on to a regular training ship. The officers
are now being selected for her"
The secretary believes III making the navy
popular in the West, whence 1t gets nearly
half its officers, a fact not generally known.
1t is not unlikely some of these Western Of
ficers will be placed in command of the Wa
chusett. 1t takes about ITO men to man
her, but on this trip she will hardly have
over 80 men, besides the servants, so as to
make more room for the boys to be picked
up along the river. Under the law, boys
must be between the ages of is and Il to
enter the navy. They are put through
regular course of training calculated to adapt
them for not only the ordinary duty OF
sailor. but the higher duties of seamanship.
The Plymouth, larger vessel, year ago
made the trip to Vicksburg and Natchez'
This is the furthest up the river that a three
masted ship has ever been able to 60.