The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-12-04

so in case the bridge is shot away they can unshackle the chains and steer the ship from the stern. All lights are eX- tinguished, The land was generally made by the ship six to ten miles to the southward of the old inlet at Whining ton and about the same distance to the northward or new inlet. The blockade was generally run from a quarter to half a mile off the coast and sometimes nearer. Military telegraph offices were stationed at close intervals along the coast ten to fifteen miles to the southern or old inlet and the same distance to the northern or new inlet and by the signal officer aboard the blockade runner catching one of these telegraph stations with his signals communication was at once made with Fort Fisher and Fort Caswell to the effect that such a vessel with captain so and so, giving his name, was in the act of running the blockade, and to look out for her and protect her. which was often done when the blockade run nsr was chased by the enemy.
 "The blockade was run only twice during the war in Wilmington, in t he daytime. Once by the Gibraltar, the eX-Confederate war steamer Sumter, which was commanded by Captain Semmes and which, by the way, was the first war vessel ever floated by the government. By trick she succeeded in running it from the north'ard by hoisting the Federal flag. She ran down to the fleet, the Federals think ing she was transport from the north. She had on board four two hundred pound Whitworth guns and other munitions of war for Fort sum ter, Charleston harbor, and Fort Fish CT. She got under the protection of Fort Fisher before the Federals discov- cred their error The Will O the Wisp, Captain Caper owner and commander | succeeded on another occasion in run inng the blockade in the daytime. The captain was a Scotchman, and one day some of the blockade runners on the Board of Trade were guying him about l the insignif1cance appearance of his | vessel, which was small, but one of the | best for speed in the port. She could make eighteen knots an hour They l offered to bet him one hundred thou l 7llII pOulhoS against ilIly liIOuoduu l that he could not run the blockade in the daytime. He took them up It was customary for blockade runners to load and run down and anchor off | Smithville, at the mouth of Cape Fear river, under protection of our forts, and then make the blockade at night. l The Federal fleet saw the Will O the Wisp coming down the river and sup | posed, of course, she would anchor but | instead she shaped her course right l through the fleet. They had nothing that could catch her. They fired two shots at her, one passing through her cabin above the water line and the other carrying away her flagstaff. Captain Caper won his one hundred l thousand pounds and became the hero of the day.
 Showing the systematic mannG in which the blockade was run, I remem- Der the Virginia Importing and Ex- porting company of Petersburg, Va. who owned a line of two fine ships named the City of Petersburg and the Old Dominion, which, for over two years, ran the blockade out of the port 1 of Wilmington and port of St. Georges. l Bermuda on regular schedule adver- tised time. Each of these ships cost two hundred and fifty thousand dol lars, and after the war they were taken to Liverpool, Eng, and made a daily fine between the city of Liver pool, Eng, and the city of Dublin, Ire land.
 Many strange names were given to ships running the blockade. Among them was a line of three funnel boats belonging to London blockade-run- ming firm. These boats were chris tened Letter B, Letter Go, and Letter Rip. The finest vessel in the business only made one voyage; she was chris tened Colonel Lamb and was built to carry fifteen thousand bales of cotton The war ended soon after she was built and put an end to her career as a blockade runner.
 "One of the sad incidents in running the blockade was connected with a ship belonging to James H. Crenshaw of Richmond, Va. His ship cleared in '63 for St. Georges, Bermuda, and her pilot, named Davis, had had yellow fe. |. yer and was just recovering from it. The captain asked him if he would take the ship in. He replied that he would, if it was the last ship he ever piloted. The night the ship made the coast he took a relapse and was car ried on the bridge in chair and sue cessfully piloted the ship into port and when the ship dropped anchor his spirit went aloft.
 Another distressing incident was when the Greyhound, Captain Beard was running in the new inlet She ac- cidentally ran ashore Mrs. Green how, who was so long kept a prisoner in her residence at Washington by the Federal government and guarded by a negro, was a passenger on board this ship with her daughter. In stepping into boat to go ashore she made a misstep and was carried down by the weight of gold that she had in two belts around her body. Her body was recovered next day.
 ''The Greyhound, in running the blockade out of Wilmington, was cap- tured by the United States sloop-of. war Connecticut. Ensign Harding was put in command of her, with orders tc take her to New York. She had as passengers MT. Pollard, editor and pro- prietor of the Richmond Examiner and the famous Belle Boyd.
 ''The Confederate government buiIt