The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-08-28
"REMINISCENCES OF A
BLOCKADE RUNNER
A Voyage to Nassau Aboard the Eugene The
Rouen and Her Capture by the q. s. S. Con-
.necticut-Bread Cast Upon the Waters.
A Prisoner of War-F'ree Again.

! course again LOT St. Georges, BerMu-
da.
Arriving here. we were again disap-
pointed In our hope Of getting re-
paired. There was nothing to do but
to order a new cylinder from England
This would mean an indefinite stay in
Bermuda, and as none OF US was will
ing 70 accept such conditions, we were
most Of us paid off and given our dis
charges
There was trim looking craft ~
ing at anchor in the harbor of st
Georges. Her name was the Rouen,
with Capt. Marshall as her master.
applied for and secured tho position Of
steward on her. We had received our
blockade money as we'll as cotton
money from tho Eugene. fThe out
ward pay was called blockade money,
cotton money. This latter was given
as bonus to the crew in order to
dissuade them from specializing in
cotton. It was known that sometimes
fremen and sailors slept on bare
boards In order to get small bale
of cotton into their bed ticking to
sell. Hence the cotton money It was
a generous way OF dealing with a
system of graft, and It worked we'll In
| the interests OF crew and shippers.)
The Unlucky Thirteenth.
| From the time I had started going
to sea TIL the 22nd of June, 1864. when
| the Rouen sailed from st. Georges,
/ had completed twelve successful trips.
! this being tho thirteenth. I am not
superstitious now. nor was L then, but
lit is fact that on this trip my
troubles began 1t is true. l had passed
through a period OF anxiety on the
| Phantom. but the nearest the trouble
ever got to me personally was the
mishap in the attempt to swim across
the creek separating Topsail Inlet
| from the mainland. On the Rouen
the matter concerned me SO personally
that I was actually captured and
! made to feel my Importance as "a
prisoner of war And I confess that
| there was no fun IN Some parts Of
| that experience.
| The Rouen. al I have said. left st.
Georges June % bound for Whining
| ton. She was not a fast sailor. but a
very comfortable sea boat The course
was perfectly clear and everything
we'll till noon of the 18th. when the
lookout reported: "a steamer on our
starboard quarter" This steamer
turned out nothing more or less than
the COMPOUNDED Connecticut. She was
us so rapidly that although the Roueu
was given all the steam she could pos-
slbly use, II was soon seen that we
were "a dead duck in the pot" The
lgonnecticut opened fire on US, blank
at first, but as we did not stop, she
soon began to pelt us in dead earnest
with shot and she'll. Orders were
issued to open the matches and tilt
the cargo In short order we had
| dropped some 200 bales of blankets
| and <other merchandise on deck. and
were cutting the bales open and roll
ling their contents over the sides of the
ship. Meanwhile the Connecticut, ap-
parently observing that we had not
| the speed to get away from her. had
ceased firing, but when she saw what
we were doing she spared neither shot
nor she'll at US. AS usual, the marks
manship was poor, but what she LOST
{ in this way she was happily making
| up In the speed with which she bore
down upon us till the posi-.
bility of capturing us without
dana cling us must have taken
! the form of a certainty. Unfortu-
nately for us, the firemen. in the very
midst of our danger, refused any longer
to fire the ship and. came on deck. In
a very few moments the Connecticut
was on us. commanding us to stop our
engines on peril of being run down.
The engines were stopped. Captain
Marshall wene below, followed by the
writer He gave me two thermometers
with orders to throw them overheard.
On reaching the side Of the ship to
carry out these instructions the In
struments Just barely cleared barge
from the Connections with prize Of
ficer and crew.
I'm vrnH =
In fifty they We're on the deck OF
our ship.
Name of the shlp7" the prize Of
fcer demanded. He was told
Name Of her commanders" He was
told
Captain Marshall now came on deck,
His papers were demanded and scrut-
inized.
HIN! From Bermuda to Halifax,
Ell? You are very far out of your
course, captain, Strike your colors,
You are a prize Of the U. S, S. Con-
neoticut You and your chief engi-
neer may remain on board; other
officers. sailors and fremen have ten
minutes to get their bags together, and
will be transferred to the u. S. S.
Connecticut"
In the very beginning of the excit-
ment several of our crew had promptly
come to the decision that all was up
with US. While the Connecticut had
become a veritable terror to blockade
runners. 1t was not SO much her guns
that We're feared as her speed and
her mysterious way OF getting right
IN fellows way at the very moment
when 1t was desirable to have her or
any like her at the other end Of the
world. Mon like Porter would prac-
tically laugh at their shooting when
ever IT was possible to show her a
clean pair of heels, The fear OF her
was maintained on a physiological
rather than on a practical basis. In
9 sense she was a tease more than
terror. She was what might be con-
sidered a terrible tease 1T looked as
II she couldn't hit mountain unless-