The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-30
BRINGING HOME A DEAD GENERAL
The Body of Fort Sumtcr's Defender
Nearly Lost at Sea.

Nearly Lost at Sea.
Chicago Letter in Philadelphia Times
eff you will promise not to use my name
I'll give you a bit of history that, thirty
years ago. would have set the whole navy
by the ears" confdentially remarked one
of the most distinguished officers in Uncle
Sans service.
"These facts have literally been kept on
ice for I'll wager that every man of us
has had a cold chill whenever the Incl
dent has been recalled. You will perhaps
remember that Gen. Robert Anderson, who
so CALAMITY defended Fort Sumter, died in
France, and the United States government
dispatched a warship to bring the body to
America 1t was a good deal of a junket
as siich affairs are apt to be, and the Of
ficers and crew had a joyful time, with
the only passenger safely soldered down
in a zinc box.
Gen. Anderson's coffin was incased in a
metallic casket and this was carefully
packed in an immense wooden case, the
whole outfit being bigger than a grand
piano and heavier than an elephant When
it was brought to the dock we were dis
mayed to find that it was too bulky to be
put in the hold, and we were forced to lash
it securely to the main deck.
"All went well until we rounded Cape
Hatteras, when we had a time, for be-
fore we were aware of the danger we were
in the jaws of the fercest gale that ever
swept that rocky coast The heavy sea
rushed over TIE deck with a roar that
made Niagara ~1und like a lullaby.
I'm the midst of that awful tempest the
ropes around Gen. Anderson's wooden
overcoat' snapped, and we had the horror
of seeing the huge case go spinning around
the deck like a toy boat in a whirlpool. 1t
skated gayly across to the further side of
the ship, and tore back again, a perfect
engine of destruction. / tell you it was a
terrible time, and many a man acquired a
gray lock before the seance was over
Every officer knew, that we had better go
to the bottom than present ourselves in
America without the body of Gen. Ander-
son, and yet here were his honored re-
mains chasing around at the mercy of
wind and wave. 1t was more than any
maA's life was worth to attempt to capture
the box as it went rioting over the deck,
but finally an athletic chap who had las
seed many a wild horse on the western
plains threw a heavy ship rope around the
box. and soon it was safely anchored.
1.-THE old ship looked as If 1t had been
through a spree when we sailed into
Hampton roads Not a man was allowed
to leave her until the generals body was
taken off next day, and only one man
came aboard, a clever young correspond
ent, who secured a big scoop for his pa
per. If he had known the whole truth he
would have scored the sensation of the
day. AS for the officers we were only too
anxious to keep our mouths shut, and for
tunately none of the crew knew enough
of the affair to peach
ut was a glad moment for US when the
light house tender departed with the hero's
body, for it is a tremendous responsibility
to take care of a dead man and do justice
to a generous supply Of fine French wine.
Gen. Anderson's body, lay In state in the
picturesque little church at Fortress Mon
roe, and we heard strange tales from the
guard of uncanny sounds at night that
curdled the blood of the bravest sentry
Some of us we're half afraid that the old
general was trying to give us away, but
later 1t transpired that several gay young
bloods had fastened a tic-tac to the win
dow, and when tired of soaring the SOL
diers into spasms, would complete the de-
moralizatlon of the guard by putting their
lips to one of the broken panes of the ca
thedral window and breathing long. sob
bing moan into the ghostly room, where
the candles hickered and famed, while the
panic-striclSen guard kept their watch
around the generals coffin"