Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1882-10-12
BLOCKADE RUNNERS.
The Perils and Profits OF the Contra.
band Business.
NJ. Quad in the Detroit Free Press.


The great majority of Northern peo-
Pile treated the blockade-running bus
mess during the war as matter af-
fectng only private individuals, and
had no idea of its perilous risks and
immense losses and gains AZ nat
ter of fact the Southern Confederates
could not have existed two years but
for It's blockade-runners. While pri-
vate enterprise kept those ships afoat
the Confederate Government was the
hacker, inasmuch as it stood ready to
purchase whatever it could use, and
that at prices that could hardly be
credited were they not matters of his
torical record.
THE BLoCKADEs.
| The South made two serious blunders
in the very beginning Of the war. The
first was In contendlng that seaports
like Charleston could not be successful
| ly blockaded, and the second was in
not running everything out of the Con-
federacy which could be spared and
would bring money before the block
ade WAS n fixed fact.
1t seems incom prehensible that the
two sections did net better understand
each other when the war broke out.
The north did not believe the south
could raise one man where it raised
six. We did not believe they could
feed armies, build war ships, manufac-
ture arms or do anything else which
they did do. On their part southern.
ers did not believe that northerners
| hat =
up to the very last day before Bull
Ran that the Federal governm cnt
would back down. 1t was we'll known
that we had no navy of importance,
and Lncoln's blockading proclamation
was greeted with a laugh. Some of
the Supposed wisest men in the south
declared that blockade was simply
impossible owing to natural causes,
while others chung to the belief that
Europe would prevent it. The general
idea of landsmen was that blockad-
ing fleet must be anchored in line
across channel, the vessels so close
together that nothing could pass, and
as a consequence public speakers talk
ed about tire-rafts, powderships and
other absurd ideas Of driving the block
aders away. 1t was even figured that
it would take III Federal crafts to
blockade Charleston. One speaker, at
public meeting in Wilmington, ad-
mitted that blockading hset m ight
be of some service in the daytime, but
when night came the sailors might go
to bed for all the good they could do.
He offered to keep Wilmington harbor
clear of them if the fellow citizens
would furnish the pine-knots to make
fre.rafts. 1t was only when too late
that the Confederacy saw its mistakes.
The blockade closed in upon its ports
| with millions ofdollars' worth of corn,
sugar, cotton and tobacco locked up.
After that it must take its chances run
ming the blockade.
THE HEADQUARTERS.
The headquarters of the blockade
running business was at Charleston.
Daring the war ten vessels ran IN and
out of Charleston to one entering any
other port. A score of rich firms IN
that city entered into the business
simultaneously, attracted by the large
profits and encouraged by the govern
| u,
Major f. Willis was stationed as pur-
chasing agent of the confederate army.
The war began in April. BY Sep
TENDER every southern merchant had
sold out his old stock and must hence
forth depend on Europe. 1t was then
that prices leaped to such figures as
astonished everybody, and were quoted
at the north as evidence that the con-
federacy was staggering; and yet Lee
was in his glory rs successful general
when those prices had advanced from
500 to 1000 times. The woman who
boughra paper of pins in the fall OF
1864 remembers that they cost from
800 to 1928 in confederate money.
THR RUNNERS.
The South had very few vessels I'll
for blockade-runnipg, but she hao
money to buy with, and agents were
kept in Europe to pick up the sort O
craft wanted. Some Of the most sue
ceesful vessels were sailing craft, but
after 1862 the great msjority were side
wheel steamers and propellers. Where
the latter approached the speed OF the
former she was taken in preference
After the first year the business wa;
reduced to something like a science
In the first place all the steamers were
provided with smokeless coal, and thi;
was always great point in their favor
ia the next place the color of the
craft was found to be very important
matter. After many experiments /
was found that white tlnged witt
blue was the best tina, could be adopt
ed. Runners thus painted have ap
preached within five hundred feet of
blookader at night without being seen
and have rested half day within hive
miles of an entire fleet. Everything
was painted this one color, so tina
there was nothing for the eye of thu
look-ou, to catch. If he saw the nteameI
at all she was simply haze or blur IL
his eyes. After it was found that the
water churned up by the wheels some