The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-02-23
A BLOCKADERS LAST RUN.
Exchange


 Galveston har DOT, Tn command oi the steamer Susanna. with a cargo of afms and ammunition for the confederate gov ernment.
 The speaker was a medium sized, square bull, man. wllh deep set eyes and determined features.
 '' have read the account Tn the Swan nah ifs0s. he continued. of the strk- ing chase A; sea and the story of the re- m lrkable CSC .pe of Confederate steam e {; Galveston. l was in command of ihai ship al the time.
 The reporter recognized a, once an old Savannahian. Captain Charles w. Aus tin who IS now Tn the government em ploy. and who iigured n many thrilling adventures In the war. but came out with out scar You had a narrow escape, cap.ain. but tell us something about the aff iir'
 As said, il was some time in the fall of 1905 had made four or five successful trips from Havana, bringing arms and munitions of war, but this trip pretty nearly wound me up. The Susan na which the writer in the Aie7cs re ierfed to as the prlvaieer. was a Staunch. trim built iros vessel with a capacity fer from 4op to SDo bales of cotton, and with an average speed of about fifteen knots an hour She was built in Eng land on the Clyde IS blockade runner. and lay low m the water with her long black hull hardly visible except in broad daylight. She was tbout two hundred and twenty -hNe i.et long by thirty beam, and being a new vessel, felt her equal te anything l.. he chase We Jeff Ha vana with ereS of twenty seven men. well fife -rei bY men who know their business. We had fine weather and cal gI,ated 10 make land inside the blockade under cover oi night between and !; o'clock in the morning. However. as II X would have II. an accident d, sea the giving way of some of our machinery
 detained us several hours and brough, us to land Tn open daylight, about 6 o'clock in the morning By this time we were m plain sight of the blockadiag squadron, but a> yet were unobserved.
 The entrance tG he harbor was filled with gunboa,s. IL was near the close of the wal, and the blockade al other points an the coast having been raised, all the tetetai cruisers were concentrated at Galveston. The situation was d perlous one, and there was but one thing left to be done. II we could evade the enemy un;ll n,shu II! and then pass the squad lon tu enter the harbor unob,erved. we would be all rght. Calling the men al b the bridge gave them their orders, And the ship was soon headed towaru land. We stood we'll to the eastward. close under shore. with the intention of seefetsng ourselves until night. Wewere yet some distance out. and hauling Tn rapidly, when abou, 5 o'clock discov- cred cruiser bearing down on us. All hope of making land was then abandoned. and the only chance for escape was to pu. to sea Having the confidence of my men. and kf owing the speed of my ship, did not fear the result.
 Calling to the engineer through the pii e. discovered that after making d twelve hours run off shore and back again. would no, have coal enough to carry me back to Havana, as there was none to be had in Galveston was in quandary but no tune was to be los, Glve her full head.' shouted to the engineer. and casting my glass across the hafoor l saw the Federal cruisers preparing for action, There was onl, one alternative. and in forlorn hope took the desperate chance of running the squadron and breaking the blockade. It WAS then about noon. headed the ship for Galveston. and passed over the outer bal into the swash ot beach channel, hauling in south by west, in the yer, teeth of the guns on the steamboat Semi. nole. which had already opened fire. At this point the chase began, and for an hour we ran under heavy fire from the guns of three of the squadron, which were bearing down on us all the time.
 - Push her hard. shouted again to the engineer. All right. sir came the scpiy, and the huge black volumes of smoke that poured out of our tunnels and lay in clouds on the water, the throb- bing oi the engine in the hold the strain ing ot the wheels as they flew around plosing the water and leaving a track of boiling, ioamlng sea far astern, told that he vas doing his duty. IL was aR eNci,- ing time, bu, every man was al his post and not word was spoken. The shell whlrzed over us and splashed and dreneh- ed our decks as they fell close under our sides. Two solid shot passed through our tunnels as stood on the bridge. and the fragment of shell shattered our bow above water. but otherwise we were un- hurt could watch the movements of the men on the cruisers through my glass. as stood on the bridge, between the flashes of the guns and the clearing away of the smoke.
 We were even now about halt a mile distant from each other and abou, mile from the shore. All righ, below?' l.in- quired again through the pipe. All right. sir. was the answer, and the ship rushed through the water as the sho, fell th,ek and fast; but the chase was abou, up. The bar was between us and the ganboats, and the distance grew greater as the channel widened. Tn ten minutes mere we were out of their reach. and, running the ship under Pelican roint, we were under cover of our own guns, shel- tered from the enemy's.
 We were now safe. The open bay was before us. with white sand-hills be