The National tribune., 1910-05-05

S--A 80.
then sent 10 the head of the passes OF
the Mississippi River. While coaling
ship from schooner the ram Manassas
struck us. She was commanded by the
same Lieut. Warley who resigned from
us in Spesia. We were then ordered to
Pensacola along with the L. 9. S. Mag
ara and another gunboat. I don't re-
member her name. We bOmbarded
Fort Barancas until II fell. We had
one man killed there. / was standing
clear Of the recoil of the gun when the
shell came in the port. taking both
sights off the gun. and exploded. killing
James Cook, the Captain of the gun. A
piece of the shell struck me in the
abdomen, but I did not mind Il much
then. 1t has since bothered me great
deal. | was three months in the hospi-
tai, and after I came home they oper-
ated on me.
Il was also five years Master-of-
Arms on the receiving ship Wabash al
the Boston Navy Yard. I served on the
New Ironsides at Fort Fisher, and
had the honor of putting the first sho,
into the fort. / was then Captain OF
gun No. 1 and Chief Boatswain Mate
in charge. 1 am now In my 18th year"
Some Rich Prizes.
VIM. Simmons. Philadelphia, Pa,
| writes:
captured by our Navy during the civil
war:
Steamer Memphis. captured by the
Magnolia. sold. for s543,495; steamer
Lady Sterling, captured by the Calypso
and Eolus, sold for s509,354: steamer
Greyhound. captured by the Connecti-
cut. sold for s597.S5S; steamer Young
/ u I~,,If
sold for 1922, ,341; steamer Wando. cap
tured by the Fort Jackson, sold for
$500; steamer Circassian;- captured
by the Somerset, sold for 1852.
steamer Kate Dale. captured by r. r.
Cuyler, sold for S370,70S; steamer At
lanta, captured by the Weehawken and
others. sold for $350,S92; steamer An
ME, captured by the Niphon and others,
sold for s358,951; steamer Cronstadt,
captured by the Rhode Island, sold for
1901, ,940; steamer Armstrong, captured
by the r. r. Cuyler. sold for s251, 1882;
steamer Banshee, captured by the
Grand Gulf and others. sold for S111,-
265; steamer A. d. Vance. captured by
the Santiago de Cuba, sold for s2ss,-
2S6; steamer Victory. captured by the
Santiago de Cuba, sold for $306, ,421;
steamerSPrincess Royal, captured by
the Augusta and others, sold for $780,
3S2."
The New Navy and the Old.
A w. Eastman (Farragut's Fleet),
Manchester. N. H., writes:
"A gunner of the old Navy, 1 visited
the flagship Maine the other day. Do
seamen do? Sitting down to mess table
set with crockery ware!s In my time
they spread a mess cloth between the
guns and squatted on their hunkers
around 1t. They eat with a knife and
fork. In old days we had sheath
knife Carried on a lanyard around our
nechs) and spoon, which we bought
with our small stores. Nearly every
mess on the Maine has a typewriter.
In my day the ship writer copied the
smooth log with a pen, and the yeo-
man did his work the same way, and
the sailor wrote his letter to his sweet
heart with pencil.
in the old days they served out salt
water soap, and you scrubbed ham,
mocks and washed clothes in cold salt
water Now they have any kind of
soap and fresh distilled hot water for
scrubbng and wash cloths and baths.
In the old days we used to get under a
hose in the head for a bath, and ship
mate would pump water from the sea
over us. Now they carry libraries and
piano for the use of the men and an
the choir singing the Holy City, and an
old tar-pot playing the accompaniment.
There isn't any station bill like there
used to be; no forecastle men nor top
men, nor afterguard men. Now they
are stationed in the superstructure and
in the turrets.
Cooking is now done by steam. and
ship cooks wear cooks uniforms, too.
I'm the old days a man just shipped,
drew his uniform, his bag, hammock
and small stores, and they were charg-
ed to him. He began his service $50
or 800 in debt. Now the Government
gives all these things. and he starts
clear of debt. In the old days he
couldn't get leave ashore until he stood
clear on the books. Nowadays a new
recruit can line up with his watch for
shore leave if he only signed articles
the day before. They even draw knife
halyards. But they don't allow man
to work even star on the top of his
cap. We used to work them with silk
in ours. AS for being sailors, of course,
they're not. Why, even men carrying
seaman's rate couldn't pass a weather
earring or bend a tripping line to a
ltopgallant yard AS for bending stun
sail gear, why, they don't know what
a stunsail is. They're good gun point
ers, but they wouldn't know how to
reeve off a side tackle for an old broad
they wouldn't be able to rattle down
nor set up rigging nor rig fall for out
and in boats There isn't a seaman
among the young lot. They don't know
what boom cover is. Why 1 saw
sailors smoking cigarets and going
ashore with an umbrella. They'll be
wearing kid gloves next"
Was at Fort Fisher
w. A. Johnson, Alma, ILL.,, writes:
II consider that the greatest struggle
of the war was when the Monitor and
the Merrimac fought at Hampton
Roads. The heat in the turret of the
Monitor was so great that it caused
some of the crew to lose their eyesight
and hearing.
"Porter's fleet saw some real hard
ships. l was on the Osceola, a double
ender. Her crew was $50 all told.
was with Butler up the James River at
the battle. of Fort Fisher. At the first
battle the Osceola got nine-inch shot
in one of her boilers After the cap
ture of Fort Fisher 1 saw an 11-inch
gun mounted on a mahogany carriage
that England presented to the rebels,
1t had been knocked some 20 feet
away. Our fleet never stopped till we
got to the chain across the Cape Fear
River near Wilmington, n. c.. l be-
long to Anna Post, G. A. r., 55S."
Cruise of the Shenandoah.
F. G. Rundlett (Farragut's Fleet),
Lowell, Mass, writes:
THE Shenandoah's crew was COM
posed of "a officerssand 119 men She
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