The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-02-09

| awhile. Let their families take their
chances along with the crowd.
-s-e-~
The Blockade at Charleston.
The mimic blockade OF Charleston mar
Dor by Admiral Bunce's squadron VIII
awaken vivid memories Of the real block
ade of more than ehrty years ago, and
invite interesting comparisons between
the naval fighting machines of the present
day and those of the days Of the sixties
1t is to be regretted that there are no
modern harbor defense works at Charles
ton, TO be measured against the new navy
The forts. Sumter and Moultrie, little
more than a quarter OF a century ago
among the most powerful Notifications in
the country are now sadly deficient Their
guns, considered monsters of destruction
in their day, are now obsolete. These
guns may be used now for the firing of
salutes, but for actual warfare they are
practically worthless. A modern man-of-
war could stand off at twice the range of
the old guns, and with it's great steel
breeeh-oading rifles reduce the forts to
rubbish without running any danger what
ever from their fire.
Conditions are so much changed since
the time of the blockade of the sixties. in
both the ships of war and the topography
of the harbor, that past exploits cannot
be taken as an indication of the possibili-
ties of the present time. There were no
| electric search lights or twenty-knot steel
ships in those days. There was no rock
walled pathway into the harbor, but its
whole mouth was open, and afforded
many channels through which seaworthy
craft might slip in or out. Now the jetties
| have changed this, forcing all craft of any
| considerable draught to travel in or out
! by the same pathway. Thus the ground
that must be covered by the blockading
squadron is considerably diminished. Thir-
| ty-three years ago a ship Of the blockad-
ing squadron was crippled and went down
in the south breakers off Morris Island. A
small crew of the beleaguered took
scow. ran the blockade with it, cut open
the turret of the sunken craft with cold
chisels, raised the big gun out of it, loaded
it upon the scow and ran the blockade
! back into the harbor with the prize, which
was afterwards mounted upon Fort Sum
ter and turned upon the blockaders 1t is
safe TO say that no such brilliant feat
could possibly be achieved under condi-
tions as they exist to-day.
! The blockading evolutons, necessarily,
cannot be carried on as similar evolutions
would be in actual war. The ships will be
compelled to keep their lights burning at
night. for the safety of commerce; thus
they will be always clearly discernable to
the blockade runners. No shot or torpedo
can be discharged at the imaginary enc
my. hence what the outcome of the ma
neuvers would be in actual hostilities will
remain problematical. However, the
practice win be for the good of the men
and the fleet. Certain rules will be laid
down, under which the blockaders and the
blockaded will spar for points" so to
speak. Should a torpedo boat be able to
get within a certain distance of a ship
without having been discovered she would
burn a red light, and the umpire would
credit the boat with having torpedoed the
ship. Should the boat be discovered and
fired upon with blank charges) a certain
!
line of danger to the ship, the ship would
be credited with having sunk her. Should
any craft succeed in passing through the
blockade, and to a certain distance be-
yond. she would show a signal, and be
given credit for her performance. These
may not be typical illustrations. but they
will serve to indicate something of the
mode of operation.
1t is pretty certain that there will be
an interesting and felicitous social side Of
the event The citizens of Charleston,
with their proverbial hospitality, have
made arrangements to entertain Secretary
Herbert, Admiral Bunce and the officers
of the fleet. Patriotic sentiment will char
acterize the interchange of greetings. and
the mutual admiration of visited and visi-
tors for our country and its defenders will
be enhanced.