Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1902-09-06

OF the army Of the Potomac. Here
were gathered all Of the conya-escent
cavalrymen who were ready to be re-
turned 10 their regiments. after ha"
ing been sent forth from the hospitals.
Thousands Of horses were purchased
BY the government and sent 20 TINS
point for the purpose Of keeping the
cavalry corps we'll equipped. The piers
Of the once busy Nharyes are rotung
away. and only few Of them rear
their Jagged heads above the surface
for. at last. it is "all quiet on the Po-
tomaC."
Fort Washington and Fort Foote are
passed. They are harmless reminders
Of the great war which eliminated u
the victory for human freedom. Moo
ern guns would crush and crumole
them. But further down stream
where the river deepens not, but wla'
ems. we come to Fort Sheridan, an m
nocent looking place, but the strong
est defense of the national capital
riyerwards The luXuriant foliage and
velvet sward conceal the l3-lnch dis
appearing rife which covers the chan
mel. an instrument Of destruction
which could dispose Of an entire fleet
as the vessels must come up stream
in single file, because Of the narrow
ness Of the channel.
We pass Mount Vernon on our right
where all of the bells Of passing steam
ers are tolled, and few miles beyond
we come to the broad river three miles
wide. where the channel was mined
during the war with Spain, to prevent
the incursion Of hostile fleets No
cheap mining work was done here,
such as the corrupt Spanish officials
did for their ports, The river was
checker boarded here, and in certain
squares tremendous mines were
placed. They were anchored securely
and electric wires connected them
with shore batteries, If any hostile
vessel had entered one of those
squares its destruction would have
surely cnsued.
As the river broadens into the bay
and beyond the ripraps, we see the
smoke of ocean steamers, we swing
about to the right past Fortress Mon
roe and into Hampton Roads, where
the greatest naval battle of the nine
teenth century was fought; the bat
tie which RELOCATED wooden fighting
ships to the junk shops of historl
alonr with the galleys of the Caesars
the battle in which the ironclad Mer
rimac attacked powerful fleet OF bat
tleships, sunk the Congress, capturel
the Cumberland, set the Minnesota
on fire and returned to her anchorage
intending to complete the work OF de
struction on the morrow. After tina
this city would have been at the mere,
of the guns of that inyincible marin
monster. But the Monitor wobblel
into the Roads hatnight, and the Mer
rimac's mission was ended.
Fortress Monroe is yalueless reli
of half a century ago, Any moder
battleship could steam along eight o
ten miles away and batter the oil
stone walls to atoms. Fortress Nor
roe is no protection to this city or tn
surrounding country. But in the in
probable event of another war with
foreign foe plans are ready whic
= could be developed rapidly, so as t
, make modern defense on that sit
+ Useless as it is, the old fort looks dal
, gerous enough to frighten off foes.
p Historic old Norfolk we pass as "
8 swing out into ocean and around int
bav, not having time on this occasio
, TO visit the numerous interesting rev,
/ lutionary relics of the town. Will
Q in the bay we enjoy oysters in ever
+ style, fresh from the water, althoug
il is claimed that the bivalves shou!
f not be eaten between April and Sci
T TENDER.
r We visit Annapolis, view the nav
= academy and the interesting revolt
n tionary sites of interest. We stop {
: Fort McHenry, where the Star Spa
l. pled Banner" was born in the brai
Il of Key; and with greater pride tina
e ever we salute that banner $50 ga
e lantly streaming" over the rampar
e of the ancient fort.
e So you see that during our entil
II ten vacation days we have been e
S ioying a study of history, as well as b
e ing invigorated by the unusual outin
SMITH d. FRY