Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1909-06-03

!
from the bar at the entrance to the har-
Dor end she projected to the Azores
There she was met by two English boats
carrying her armament and additional
seamen After receiving her equipment
she was turned over to Capatn Semmes
Of the Confederate navy and her crew,
! composed almost entirely Of Englishmen,
cnristened her THE Alabama" on the
broad Atlantic. For nearly two years
she roved the seas capturing. burning,
sinking and destroying American ves-
sells without lawful authority from any
source recognized by International
| law, and In open defiance Of judicial
tribunals established by the COM
mon consent Of civilized nations as
a restraint upon such mode of warfare.
She roved the seas from the West Indies
70 Cape Horn and from the Cape Of Good
Hope to the Islands of the Pacific. She
was given the freedom of every Eng
| iish port and her officers were banquet
ed and toasted in England and her de-
tendencies fom Cape Colony to Singa-
pore.
| When in June, 1861 she was sunk off
| Cherbourg by Captain Winsow in the
| United States cruiser Kearsarge. in the
most spectacular single ship engag ement
| In the Civil War the captain was picked
| up by an English yacht and taken to
| ENGLAND. He was received with the APP
| plause of an Office that had made war
| upon the United states and In the inter-
| osts of Great Britain had DESTROYED her
| commerce. Years afterward in the ar
| Ditra ton Of the Alabama claims Eng-
,ands responsibility was established and
she paid the United states fifteen million
| dollars in settlement Of this affair.
| While our ships were securing the seas
in pursuit Of these cruisers that were
destroying our commerce. the blockade
Of the Southern ports was weakened by
| the number cf ships that were detailed
| for that purpose 3ut in addition to this
elr hnrrassmcnt another combination Of
: circumstances existed in which England
I riaved an important part in support IF
tive Confederarv and in tho orqinr -
I mont Of the North. 4 larre majority Of
the cotton Of the world was produced
/ ~ the South and the cotton mills or
! Turland We're therefore dependent lron
/ tN' 'on1ederacN Tor their raw motorlai
I'll" operatives were thrown out a. en-
1!oNment ana not only want but famine
lrtNa'led AZ the great manufacturing
c"fters. II IS said that at Lancaster
h'one' more man Ten mutton dollars was
! supplied by charity and given away TO
! TIE starving mil! hands IN less than two
years after the war began.
! But great as was this loss to the world
at large. the burden fell heaviest upon
the people and the army Of the Confod-
| eracy: for cotton was not only the chief
Article Of export. 1t was the chief article
cs production Of the South. And the
blockade had the effect to cut off not
| only tho expectation OF cotton but also
! the revenues. the real stnews Of war.
that came therefrom. The South was
neither a manufacturing nor a mechani-
cal country. The whole Confederacy had
become dependent upon the North and
| upon Europe for it's supply Of bread
stuffs. clothing. arms, ammunition and
| munitions OF war, so that the blockade
cut off both its power to buy and also
!ts power to import that which was ne
cessary to supply the army in the field
. ana the mothers and children that re-
r9a'heo AT nome.
Under these circumstances every in
duccrent that greed ard avarice could
offer were held out both by the English
and the Confederacy to those chartered
TO hazard the risk OF running the block
.de. England was anxious to buy cot
ton ~ fabulous prices. and munitions Of
war could be SOLE, at the South at prices
dictated by whosoever could deliver
them within the Confederate territory
Such munitions were declared contra
band of war and a ship destined for the
South CARRYING the same was subject to
forfeiture with all its other cargo when
seized and captured by Union vessel Of
war. 10 escape this law the English
! SHIPPERS hrst CONSIGNED their goods to
ire Bermuda or bahama Islands and
trere reship3ed them in vessels especial
y adapted to running the blockade. But
IN. courts early dc 'idcd that such trans
''.,.''en' "'s mercy sun'e'iuFe 10 es
'"7 an" hr'u tnat Snips ana
'e' 'i''0eH u''''''''e'y oeSt'heo Ior the
80" "''s SUBJECT 10 SEIZURE anywhere
>"9'au ->e" rr"N 'ue"'e anu
'''" eNV'' 1"'''!''"'u 10 ne '''e
"P'' ",'""' i'' '''ose eng seu III
''''''''@ ''e ''o'"a"e
As the war continued and the vigilance
or the blockade increased the re-
ward was made greater for those who
could successfully elude it. The captain
OF blockade runner frequently received
s''"ooo FOR round trip and the charge
for carry freight was $500 per ton.
'.'''1 ''a, "'u lo"s s''' "een uec'are'
i"o' NY WIRE punoi''Seu ny the
,.,,. i"''"e'S' WINE o,he's We're
''' '9P''' pun poSe
vac ',o''''e eNpe"NV' Inc
"'"tti'tN VIII winch tnese r'irncrS con-