The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1886-02-04

The writer commanded the United
States steamer Connecticut on the block
ade Of Wilmington, n. c., for fourteen
months, and during that period cap
,ured ard sent in four steamers-Juno.
Scotia, Minnie and Greyhound, all with
valuable car@Oes; vessels and cargoes
adiudged worth 81. .3j2 The Con-
necticut run ashore and destroyed four
other blockade runners - Phantom,
Herald. Ceres. and Diamond.
Ine blockade runners would always
select dark nights 10 run in and out and
certain stages Of the moon (between
the last and first quarters OF the moon),
when It set early and rose late. This
moon arrangement was always a mat
ter Of great concern 10 them; then =
toleTably high tide also entered into the
calculations.
The first blOckade-runner captured
bv the Connecticut was the Juno Il
was 4 bright. pleasant morning. of
shore, and ont about seventy miles from
Wilmington, when. at bay-break, she
was discovered. Chase was immedi-
atelv given. and in three hours she was
prize. When the Captain was brought
on board he was greeted with the usual
good morning. with the additional
remark: Glad to see YOU" to which
ne replied. with an oath. I'm not glad
10 see gO7i.' \ week before the Juno
had safely run in. had discharged her
English car~o-taken on board the
uSual COnfederate-American cargo OF
cotton, tobacco and turpentine, and was
now bound to Nassau.
Among other letters found on board
was one open and unfinished. begun at
Wilmington and addressed to the own
ers in England. In It the Captain
described the successful running past
the sleepy-headed Yankees at night,
and expected to be lucky in running
ont. OF this he would inform them
upon his arrival at Nassau, where he
would close and send his letter. The
said letter never reached England, nor
even Nassau.
These blOckade-runneTS were all En-
Ciish steamers, and were painted lead
On stone color to prevent their being
discovered ut night when running close
in along the land. The fire and steam
arrangements were for burning the
soft English coal, which always made
mach black smoke. Thus thew cOuld
be discovered a long distance off in the
DAY time. The smoke could of course
be seen before the vessel was visible.
We have heard and we have read of
the excitement on board whale-ship,
produced by the cry of the lookout at
the masthead. Spout. Or a whale
in Sightn Boats are gotten ready for
lowering, with harpoons, lines and
lances.
On board of the Connecticut, when
the lookout-man ut the masthead sang
ont, BLACK smoker all was likewise
commotion, Every one was upon his
feet. and all ewes. rs well as the ships
head, were turned in the direction re-
ported. All steam was raised, and the
chase commenced.
A chase of this kind once lasted fif-
teen hours. Black smoke was diScov-
cred ut sunrise. and pursuit was COM
menced and continued until after dark,
when the blockade-runner was lost
sight of. The Connecticut, however,
got within two miles OF her. making Il
gain of ten miles. as it was estimated.
To enable her to escape she had to
throw overheard nearly all her cargo,
which comprised English goods, as she
was bound in. We passed through and
by inGumcrable bales and boxes during
the day, some Of which we perceived
contained shoes. This caused n wac
gish sailor to remark: perhaps if we
could get and put on some of those
shoes, We could run faster, and catch
that fellow
We will continue with the further
movements of this steamer, which will
be found quite interesting. Subse-
Guently she proved to be the Tristan
Shandv As has been stated, she threw
overheard nearly all her cargo, went
into Nassau. filled up hurriedly with
another cargo and steamed once more
for Wilmington, ran the blockade, and
got in. In order to have the dark of
the moon, she unlcaded with great dis
patch. loaded with the usual Confederate
cargo and sailed for Nassau. When she
got few miles outside, she was diScov-
cred by the United States steamer
Pequot. which gave chase. Ii soon be-
came very dark, and the PeQuOt lost
sight of her. but continued on the same
course as when the blOckade-runner was
last seen. III 4 lew minutes 4 ITtl0pn-
dous volume of black smoke from the
soft coal came into the faces of the peo-
pie on board of the Pequot. and in
minute afteTward she was up with the
blockade-runner. and the Tristan
Shandy v-as captured. She had broken
down. he Captain of her had stated
that the Connecticut had chased him so
hard those fifteen hours that his ma
chinerv was very much ont of order;
and he hadn't time to adjust and repair
il. for he had to hurry very much to get
out of Nassau and into and out Of Viii
mington in order to save the moon and
the tides So the Connecticut was the
remote cause of the capture of the
Tristan Shandy with her valuable car
go. Vessel and cargo together we're
adiudged by the Prize Court - be
worth three hundred and seventy>Sve
thousand dollars. Added to this was
the cargo thrown overheard when
chased by the Connecticut, making a
great total loss to the Confederate
cause.
4 certain Saturday night, off the
Western Bar Zone of the inlets into
Wilmington, was an exciting one for
the blockaders, and blockade-runners
also. There was no time to indulge in
Saturday-night songs and revelries, or
to drink ''SWeethearts and wives"
We knew that blockade-runners were