Omaha daily bee., 1893-12-17

good state OF preservation. The brick walls
aud parapots standing on the edge OF the
water seemed intact, hut for some years past
there has been no garrison.
Trip to the Fort.
Accosting The mule car conductor rs TO
whether he knew anybody who would take
me ovcrto Sumter, he replied III YOU can
induce Charley Brown to take you over, YOU
will be all right. lie has the best boat Of
ANYBODY round here. and is Il good pilot"
WHO Is Charley Brown asked. "Why,
he lives IN yondcr cottage and maybc YOU
will find him at home now"
On knocking at the door of the cottage |
WAS politely invited into the s~Cantily fur
nishcd parlor by au old lady aud asked to
wait until they could send for MIR. Brown.
BY her courteous manners and cultured con-
versation | judged that the lady must
nave been reared in good society.
DurinS the twenty minutes | was kent wait
ing she related many, very interesting rem
tutsccnCCs of the bombardment of Fort sum.
ter, and the awful times they hau during the
earthquake five years ago and recent cy-
clone. licr son Charley mad served in the
confederate army and was a veteran in the
RANKS. w have some relatives in Ne
brnska, said she; perhaps you know them.
Their name is Osgood and they live near
North Platte assured her | had many
acquaintance in Nebraska, but did not re-
member the Osgoods, though they doubt
loss had heard OF me, Presently Charley
Brown put in an appearances, lie was a
snort, stout, square-built, good-naturcd fell
low who did not bear the slightest resem.
blancc to the ideal rebel gentleman" ever
ready to cut a throat or scutlle n ship. 1t
did not take lone for us to agree upon the
price and we walked back TO the wharf to
embark for Sumter. The famous yacht"
was u small onc.mas sail boat,
which had doubtless won many
n race IN these waters, but on this
occasion proved to bo the slowest sailer
had ever travelled in. | had almost forgotten
10 state that sullivan island had been swept
oy a cyclone and tidal wave on August %, of
TINS year, and several hundred dwellings,
winch have been built since the war, were
either wrecked or totally demolished. The
iiland is still covered with tho de-
bris of the wrecked cottages ana
dwellings. The same cyclone had de.
stroycd the landing at Fort Sumter, so
that only small boats can approach. As a
preCautlon my skipper took a small flat
bottomed skin in tow, as he feared his boat
could not make a safe landing.
At Short Range.
1t was near noon when we anchored,
within a hundred yards of the fort and, TAX.
ing to the small boat, padded to the rocky
ledge at its base. had ALWAYS imagined
the walls of Fort Sumter to be great blocks
OF solid granite and was surprised to find
that the walls of the fort are built of brick,
lald IN cement mortar, and the only granite
ABOUT the building is the coping on the para
pets. The walls are seventeen feet thick
ana the brick-arched easements ana maya
zines are covered with earth and SAND On
the seaside approach there is a great rent in
the walls, ana piles OF brick and mortar are
heapcd up in confusion. In fact, that side
OF the fort is badly ruined. The cyclone of
last summer did more harm that all of Gen
eral Gllinore's long range guns from Fort
wagner during the war. What had looked
at the distance like two smoke stacks |
found to be two iron frame lighthouse
towers and the mast in the center was a flag
stan. 10 my great surprise and disgust
found no flag flying over the fort.
Hello cried my skipper, hello, there"
Presently a couple of children, followed By
an elderly, man tthe lighthouse Keeper,
came hopping down among the ruins. There
Is a gentleman here that wants to look over
the fort, said the skipper. well, well, I'll
ind the sergeant and got permission for
nm, In a little while II big bearded man
in half undrcss uniform cam out. This was
the sergeant in charge of the fort. After
introducing myself he volunteered to show
me through. 81 have been stationed in
Omaha" said he, way back in $50. L be-
longed to the Twenty-tirst infantry. |
remember Omaha very well, but have never
been lack since" 1t did not take more than
twenty minutes TO see all there was worth
seeing in the fort, which, the sergeant IN
formed me, covers an area of about three
" III nv "tA blOhC
out, said he, 'Ghc fort had two tiers of
baStlons, one above another, besides the guns
on the parapet, but the top tier WAS almost
entirely demolished by shot and shell
from Fort Wagner, which bombarded the fort
while it was occupied by the rebels, so that
at the present time the fort has only the one
tier OF port holes all around" Its height is not
over thirty-tive feet above the water. you
might not believe it," said the sergeant,
but we had an awful time 'here during the
| cyclone. Inc tidal wave rose clear O yer the
top of the fort opposite our gun carriages
and filled the magazines with sand, and
broke down our walls so that there was a
great deal more danger inside than there
was during the bOmbardment." A walk
through the mas aZines showed them TO be
filled up with sand several feet deep. The
great lO-inch Columbians still poke their
nozzles Through the port holes, but as a
matter of fact these guns are al! old-fash-
Toned, and would be of very little use in
these times. Several immense guns have
been dismounted inside the fort, and lie on
the ground buried half way in the sand. A
great mass of exploited shells, chainshot and
cannon balls that had plowed their way in
during the bombardment encountered the
entire place, and as il nov appears IL is
scarcely fit for habitation. The rayages of
war have been followed by the ravages of
the elements, which have done their work
of demolition, and the government at Wash
ington does not seem TO be interested
enough in the fort even TO keep the flag
flying on Its staff.
Looking from the parapet across TO Fort