St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1902-10-11

of the army of the Potomac. here
were gathered all of the convalescent
cavalrymen who were ready to be re-
turned to their regiments, after hav'
ing been sent forth from the hospitals.
Thousands of horses were purchased
by the government and sent to TINS
point for the purpose of keeping the
cavalry corps well equipped. The piers
of the once busy wharves are rottlng
away, and only few OF them rear
their jagged heads above the surface:
for. at last, it is "all quiet on the TO-
tomac." ...
Fort Washington and Fort Foote are
passed. They are harmless reminders
of the great war which eliminated III
the victory for human freedom. MOO
ern guns would crush and crumole
them. But further down stream:
where the river deepens not, but WIG
ems. we come to Fort Sheridan, an IN
nocent looking place, but the strong
est defense of the national caPltal.
riverwards. The luxuriant foliage ano
velvet sward conceal the 13-lnch ais
appearing rifle which covers the cnan'
mel. an instrument of destruction
which could dispose of an entire Meet
as the vessels must come up strean
in single file, because OF the narrow
ness of the channel.
We pass Mount Vernon on our r1gnt,
where all of the bells Of passing steam
ers are tolled, and few miles BEYOND
we come to the broad river three miles
wide. wherd 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 thosa
squares its destruction would have
surely ensued.
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 relegated wooden fighting
ships to the junk shops OF history
along with the galleys Of the Caesars;
the battle in which the ironclad Mer'
rimac attacked powerfulfeet OF bat
tleships, sunk the Congress. captured
the Cumberland, set the Minnesota
On fire and returned to her anchorage,
intending to complete the work OF de-
struction on the morrow. After that
this city would have been at the mercy
of the guns of that mvincible marine
monster. But the Monitor wobbled
into the Roads that night, and the Mer.
rimac's mission was ended.
Fortress Monroe is valueless relic
of half century ago.. Any moder1
battleship could steam along eight OF
ten miles away and batter the old
stone walls to atoms. Fortress Nom
roe is no protection to this city or the
surrounding country. But in the i'm
probable event of another war with
foreign foe plans are ready which
could be developed rapidly, SO as to
make modern defense on that site
Useless as it is, the old fort looks dan
gerous enough to frighten off foes.
Historic old Norfolk we pass as we
swing out into ocean and around into
bay, not having time on this occasion
| to visit the numerous interesting revo-
lutionary relics of the town. While
in the bay we enjoy oysters in every
stvle, fresh from the water, although
It is claimed that the bivalves should
| not, be eaten between April and Sep
| TENDER.
We visit Annapolis, view the naval
academy and the interesting reyolu
tionary sites of interest. We stop al
Fort McHenry, where the "Star Span
oled Banner" was born in the brai1
of Key; and with greater pride thar
ever we salute that banner 80 gal.
lantly streaming over the ramparts
of the ancient fort.
So you see that during our entire
ten vacation days we have been en-.
toying a study of history, as well as be-
ing inyigorated by the unusual outing
sMITHD FRY.
3