Mexico weekly ledger., 1882-11-16
,ers were by mo means diminished

nave uUHc uO MUAS tuau was uOne.;
"A Confederate captain told me tsiat
he made Wilmington one night in a
terrible snow-storm, and the night
was sobitter cold that all of his crew
were frost-oitten. He got into the
.harbor without sighting a@bloekader, /,
but there in the channel was a Federal
gun boat at anchor. She could not
be passed to port, and on the star
board side the distance from the rail
to the beach was scarcely s hundred.
feet. The Confederate had q light
draught steamer, and he edged up at
quarter speed TO squeeze through.
He passed the gunboat within twelve
feet, and a. he passed he saw d look
out with his arms on the rail looking
square at him. His craft crept for
ward like a snail, one OF her paddle
wheels almost on the beach, and by
and by was out of sight and safe in
harbor. As was afterwards learned
in Wilmington, tie lookout who
seemed to be gazing with wide-open
eyes was dead man--frozen to
death at hin post of duty
While the hlock.ie runners trusted
to speed and dodgtng instead Of fight
ing, there was danger to be appre-
hended from the desperate daring OF
nine-tenths Of the captains. They
often made o dash for it when discov-
cred, and several times off Charleston
they rubbed against blockaders in a
way to make the splinters fly. A
wooden steamer buzzlng along at the
rate of twelve miles an hour would
have sunk the largest iron-clad in the
navy, if striking her right.
There were some blockade-runners
who were thoroughly determined not
be captured, and to fight if cornered.
One captain had spar and torpedo
attached to the bow of his craft, and
both were in position whenever he
ran in or out Of Charleston. His in
tentlon was, in case a blockader barr
ed his path, to push straight at her
and to give her the benefits of the
torpedoes. Curiously enough, he
made seven or eight trips without
even being hailed by blockader.
RUN ASHORE.
The first aim of the runners was te
get safely in or out. When it was
realized that this was impossible, the
object was to prevent vessel or cargo
from being of any benefit to the Fed.
erals. The runner would be headed
for the beach, three or four fires kin.
| died on board, and, in the majority
of instances. the crews escaped, and
vessel and cargo consumed. Wher
the war closed, the bones Of at least
three runners could be counted withir
ten miles of the mouth of Charleston
harbor.
When runner headed for The
shore, it was out boats and pull fol
her. Now and then one was over
hauled and the flames subdued, bu
in many cases the boats crews were
driven off by the infantry sent to tht
spot from the nearest fort. -
| ON THE WATCH. Ee-,
| There was never a single moment
in the twenty-four hours that watcf
was not maintained. One man, pro-
vided with the best of glasses, was
sufficient by day, but at night from
two to four were on duty, according
to the weather During the first yea
the runners selected dark or stormy
| nights for their trips, but later OF
they could be looked for on any scr
of night Every runner going ou
halted off Fort Sumter to get th'
report of the look out who was main
tanned there. Every evening befor'
dark this lookout, having the bes
telescope gold could buy in Europe
noted the position of every blockader
He saw whether they had steam up
took notice of all signals, and if on
or more were to leave during th
night the lookout generally caugh
on to something to give him the cue
Sometimes the blockaders woul,
change their stations as soon a
might fell, but the lookout eoul'
often tell what positions they woul'
take, being guided by the tides, cur
rents and look of the weather.
! No soldier on outpost used his eye
and ears more keenly than the look
out ON board the blockaders. On
i pleasant night the duty was not onel
j ous, but In wild weather. and particu
larly during the winter months, muc
suffering was necessarily endured
No man aboard could turn in at nigh
with a feeling of security. He rea!
lied that he was likely to be turne
out at any moment, and once out ther
might be hot work with the guns,
pull in the boats, or a chase lastin
for hours. A@ ,'
CURIOUS ALARM.
1 One night in December, 1858,
runner was creeping siong down Sth
harbor in hopes to dodge through th
feet Of eight or ten vessels, when a
at once an alarm was given in th
Federal feet, quickly followed by tt
bang! bang! of the great guns. II
excitement continued for full twent
minutes, drawing some of the Fede
! ais a mile from their first posision