The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-08-28

shooter right up against It. and then,
Chen ahe got into such . position,
sho didn't want to hit It. So when
she was chasing blockade-runners her
shots seldom took effect X she was
any distance away. but sho would keep
pesging away ali tho time, and there
could be no telling what q stray shot
might do. OF course, we generally
felt that X she hit us 1t was only By
change, but chance hit might do no
more good to us than any other kind
OF q hit. and when by her superior
speed and her incesaant firing she
could constantly increase that chance
till she had reduced 1t to certainty.
and therefore no longer cared to use
1t, she had o rather demoralizing effect,
AS I said, the Rouen was not fast
boat, and, all things considered. there
was very poor psychological combi-
nation. The crew for the most part
of them found 1t necessary to take q
few sips" to keep their spirits up.
There was plenty Of good stun" on
board wherewith to accomplish this
necessary end, and SO bottles OF cham
payne and other spirtuous matter were
broken over block OF Ice in q tub,
and every fellow was, free to help
himself from tho pr0miscuous and
nondeacript mixture as literally as
he wished. Most OF the fellows were.
in reference thereto, In generous
frame OF mind. which each applica-
ton had tho effect Of increasing till
their spirits were not only up" but
80 sky-high that the Connecticut prob
ably appeared to some OF them like
whole feet of toy boats playing at
dress parade. They managed to scrape
together what few things they could
and were gotten into the Connecti-
cuts barges. BY the time they
reached her side sort OF locomotor
attaxia came upon them, and with such
cogency OF seizure that few OF them
could tell where their feet were, even
with their eyes wide open. Knee jerk
reflexes and all other reflections were
In an equally unresponsive condition,
for most of the men were every sheet
In the wind. all seas over. or hope
lessly drunk.
But the Connecticut had scientific
and philosophical way of SOLDERING up
| such fellows. They were whipped"
on board. Now don't get excited when
| l say whipped ! do not mean that
they were beaten. No! no! They Con
the connecticut) seem to have figured
that If fellows spirit was up. the
best thing TO do was TO send that
fellow up after 1t and let the two
come down together. The process
was called whipping" A lanyard was
passed through pulley block on one
of the yards. One end of this was
fastened around the body of each cell
ebrant. He was then holsted like
bale OF goods. When quite clear OF
the rails he was swung in. BY this
time be had probably reached for and
got a grip on his exalted spirit. Then
he and his spirit were allowed to
slide down by their own weight. When
fellow thus treated struck the deck,
the inertia OF the dorsal compact
seemed in some uncanny way to twist
jerk or pull his spirits into place. and
after brief nightmare, fellow who
a few moments before was SO con-
cerned with visions spirituous as not
to know his name, nor anything about
| other such rivals or mundane matters
! woke up sober enough to make
| fairly accurate description of himself
and his business on board the good ship
Rouen.
On Prison Ship.
These preliminaries of the capture
being ended, the Rouen was taken In
tow by the Connecticut for Newbern-
n. c. Next morning we were safe in
Newbern, and transferred from the
Connecticut to an old hulk, which, un.
der the guns OF the fort, served as a
prison ship for blockade-runners. On
the deck of this hulk we were soon
lined up and assigned our places.
There were two other prize crews on
| board making with US some zoo pris.
oners.
on the morning OF June IS the
boatswain piped down the hatch: "AlI
you blockade-runners on deck: fall In
In ships company" We lin-d up
What they were going to do with US
now was soon apparent. We We're
lined up practically to receive our
sentences. We. having come last on
board the hulk. were last in order Of
the roll call AS the names of men
were called out and answered to. they
were given a pretty clear indication
of what they were to expect. The adj
vantage Of being near the end gave
me time to ruminate on some means
of Showing cause" why l should re-
ceive the lightest kind of sentence,
| Being a steward, was rated as a
petty officer. which meant that ]
might be detained in prison till the
end of the war-a by no means well
come thought. But 1 had changed my
name. and was in hopes Of being ebls
ITO conceal Inc mature OF my business
Standing in line Immediately above
me was signal officer named Nc
Gregor. He had not chosen a pseu-
donym. but was content to disguise
himself by discarding his uniform for
| the cast off outfit of an oiler or fire.
man. To complete the disguise he had
accumulated all the crime he possibly
could on his hands and face, and had.
since the time of capture TIL then
sedulousiy avoided external contact
with water. We were both thinking
| that very little notice would be taken
of such insignificant "cusses' as we
appeared to be. Our disguise was our
only hope. providing the thing woulo
work ,
TO be sure, I had cast little bread
upon the water, from time to time IN
my wanderings, but there was no
thought that any of it could be found
floating back to me in such a predlca-
ment. AS matters turned out, now,
ever. some Of it was making rapid
time towards me. as we shall see oS
and by. ..,s ,noi.
Some months previous to TINS Incl,
dent had done kind turn Or TWO
| Ia a black man. stevedore' nalneu
nara, roye Aaron had by some means