The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-06-23
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More About Blockade Running-An
Old Steamboatman's Experience
With a Stock Company.
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.sn>,~. 1-1sgggg1zt RE old gentleman VI
TX EMESgNs0W left sitting up in be-
Il I~ IN munching his candy
il III ~: after satisfying his APP
| Y %SgSzM ~ petite for that particu
mSegsAzSW NlM lar luxury, said t.
GGg78eY9@I% Jack, his body-serv
EsSS II IS ant: "Now for home
SgTTSt AX p nm to see how the crap.
s Vi fs conn., s :. On = i: ~ =:
.5aas. OLD sale sale I Ibis eld gentle .,
49, s Blunderbuss, VIII C /
,~~-<x was shortened by com
| mon consent tc
Blundy, and blunderbuss he was, ifroaring and
making multitudinous noises would constitute
one. He was an improvement on "Old Hurri-
cane" in the Hidden Hand" and Jack was
an improvement on "WooI." Old Blundy was
not only character, but his father before him
was. He lived on the Tennessee River, ran
steamboats, to New Orleans, and had stage lines
in many parts of the South; two large planta
tons, 80 cash stores, and he made colossal
fortune for those days, and, strange to say,
| never kept any books-carried his immense
| business in his mind and on penciled memo
randums; but he bought and sold for cash.
| He would 60 to Pittsbnrg, Pa, buy the machin-
| float them down the Ohio to Paducah and pole
| them up the Tennessee to his plantation. All
the lumber was sawed by his own mills and
converted into steamboats, by his own slave me-
| chanics. Everything was furnished from his
own resources, save machinery and furniture
His own slaves were frernen deck hands, cooks,
stewards. chambermads, and cabin boys. The
| only white help he hired were the engineers
and pilots. He was his own Captain and clerk
issued no bills of lading, but simply marked
down on piece of paper the amount of cotton
in bales, hogsheads of tobacco in leaf, or other
freight, and when he got to New Orleans long
list of the cargo was made out, each shippers
goods being placed by themselves on the levee
At first he was
GREATLY ANNOYED
by the negroes carrying the cotton-bales or
tobacco to the wrong pile, but he was equal to
the emergency, and got up a system of fags.
A white flag meant that everything belonging
to Adams must 90 to 1t, a white-and- black
meant Browns pile, and red Cummings, and
so on.
In the course Of time, at the head of naviga.
ton on the Tennessee River, it was thought
quite city might he built, and the first th ing
was to have magnificent line of steamboats,
from there to New Orleans. After great solicit
tation and many consultations, the father of
Blundy was induced to put his boats and all of
his belongings thereto annexed, into stock
company, other stockholders putting In solid
cash. New boats were built, old ones repaired,
magnificent offices opened in New Orleans and
at the head of navigation on tho Tennessee
River All this FURNISHED gold and tinsel
fairly made Blundy's lsenior) head dizzy, as
we'll as that of his good wife, "Bithy."
The new limo started off with great eclat and
what they called balance sheet 1t was a
pretty thing he continued, fastened together
with red tape and brass eyelets, red lines and
black and red figures all over it, and to use his
own expression it showed that the company
was making lots and gobs of money" Then
they gave what they called "skursions."
II and Bithy were induced to 90 to Orleans
on one Of them. The crowd all stopped at the
st. Charles Hotel, $3.50 to SIS day each. but
I'd been to Orleans too often before to let money
slip that way. We secured O comfortable room
at dollar a day; had Creole drip coffee at the
Fronch market and eat and drunk where we
wanted to, and where they paid dollars we
paid picayunes.
Then they wanted Us to go to the opera,
but I'd been there before, and thought it was
the poorest show I was ever ina lot Of great
BIG-BELLIED DUTcHMEN
a. bawlng and stretching their mouth as wide
as the top of one of the chimneys of the old
+" Walk in the Water" I used to own. We did
not go to no opera. but we did go to old man
Turner's circus and enjoyed ourselves splen-
ddly, for there We could understand every.
thing that was said, while at the opera we
could understand nothing.
1--WE took a good look at the company's
splendidly- Furnished offices, with glass DOORS
brass rods, curtains and so forth and so on.
and Bithy staid there half day seeing set
Elements made and their way of doing bust
ness, doubled barreled or double-entry book
keeping, l believe they called it. and I'll be
DANCED if l haven't done more business on top |
of salt-barrel or bale of cotton in half an |
hour, and tuck in moro money than they did |
in that thar Office during the half day and |
Bithy stad there, and the whole rooms were |
perfumed nearly giving us the headache. The |
clerks parted their hair in tho middle, drunk |
iced tea and wore false collars. Wal, at last |
we got off home, and tell yer Bithy and I did |
a lot of talking and thinking as we went up |
tho river, and when we got off at our lower |
plantation and got some solid bacon and cab |
bage, hogs jowl and turnip green's, corn bread |
and pot of ChlOe's coffee, we begin to feel nat
ural again.
"In day or two went up to Navigation
City, as it was called, and the first thing that
was poked at mo was one of those balance
sheets, which, they said, to keep up the double
barreled bookkeeping, had to be issued every |
month. l had seen as many Of them as / |
wanted to, and said to them If you've made
any money, SNOW me the hundrcQ-d0liar blll9
for when l run the boats and left home
WITH 500 IN MY POCKET.
and paid all the bills going and coming from
Orleans. collecting all my freight, and getting
back homo with silver gold, and paper. and
after supper and Bithy counting it and
1t all out, if we had S., 100. we
knew 1 had made $4,000 on the trip. That
was the only kind of book keeping we did.
When we were first married aud started had
I've niggers and Bithy five, and now we had
over 500, and we'd never yet made out bal
ance-sheet held together by red tape and brass
,yelets'
One Of tho heightened stockholders, smok-
ng 10-cent Havana cigar, was present, and
,ad:
Mr.. Blundy. perhaps you would sell out"
Il will, /" says Lcl0 Crgh "a
"What will you take fYsays he.
My money back and six per cent. interest,
md - glad to getcit," says /.
Ho paid me-over 500 o00-and gave him
,he piece of paper they gave me, called GER
,ifcate Of stock, took my hundred thousand
dollars, bought more niggers and started an
'ther plantation, and, would you believe it? in
about year, that steamboat company concern,
With all their fine doings and fxings, was in
he hands of the Sheriff; and what / got
lollar for could have bought back for 10
tents. But Bithy did not want any moro
and I staid on the plantation
With her." Nss5o1