Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1911-11-10

was to be made effective.
Yet her captain began his task as
vigorously as II he were not pitted
single-handed against fleet of fast
and fearless Adventures whose sole
aim. was to elude him. That they
could elude him, and dozen other
vessels like his. in a majority OF cases.
Fifty years ago this month the
blockade. runners brought into Will
mington thousands of tons Of war ma
terials-guns. railroad ana sheet iron.
cloth and shoes for the soldiers, am
munition. medical stores-a thousand
things Of which the south stood soreiy
In need. and which England was ready
and eager 10 supplys,-s rsrss.t --s ~
9ssA BLOCKADE RUNNER sss-
The steamers employed insithe block
ade-running business were all OF Eng
lish build They were-better built and
had better engines than American tesA
sells Of the same size and tFeir speed
Most Of these vessels were of the
side wheel type. with double engines,
which enabled them to turn in a s7very
sbort circle. an important consideration
when sdodging an enemy in the night at
close d1artersa They were long and low
and painted gray to secure invsibiIItys at
a distances -.rees -eas So .fr.as' 800
An excellent account of the character
Of one OF these vessels, her crew and
her business is contained In a narrative
calieds Never Caught" written by Capt
Roberts. a blockade runner
Although the scenes he describes be.
long TO a later period, in tue war. the
ships employed were. the same in the
summer Of 1854 X q q - -. ~ III a
IN fEe Sfrnnie tars-,1a -, ~ I, Ia - ~ .
writer RaFtrays some of the methods and
hazards or his business He describes his
ship as follow --- IA skM
The vesselsI had charge OF, which /
had brought, out from England, was. one
OF the finest doubIe-screw steamers THAT
had been built by D-n;A of 400 tons
burden. 26o,horse power, s1s0 feet long
were all Establishment and as they re-
ceived VERY hlgh wages we. managed to
iE PREPARING FOR WORK
:. we prepared the vessel for the work
by reducing her spars TO a light pair of
Oliver masts. without any yards across
them, the only break in their sharp
outline being a small crownest on the
foremost. to be used as a lookout place
THE huh, which showed about eight
feet above water, was painted dull
gray color. to render her as nearly as
possible invisible in the night - The
boats were lowered square with the gun
nels (rails). -
Goal was taken on board. OF a ma
ture that never smoked (anthracite): the
funnel being what is called telescope,
lowered close down TO the deck. In order
that no noise might be made, steam was
blown OF in case Of a sudden stop, IN
der water. ~ IVY Mt
In fact every ruse was resorted to
to enable the vessel TO evade the vigil
harbor, Bermuda Our crew consisted
Of captain, three officers three engi-
and p feet beam; undeniably a good
craft in all respects, lying in St Georges
ueers and 2s men, including hremen-
that is. 10 seamen and is fremen. They.
lance of the American cruisers. Among
the fowls no cocks were allowed. for
fear of their proclalning the where
abouts OF the blockade runners This
may seem ridiculous, but 1t was a nee
essary precaution.
IN DANGEROUS WATERS.
= Captain. officers and crew received a
handsome bounty before starting in or
der that We might not be unremunerated
If captured or injured; and so, to use an
American expression, skinnning our
eyes well we started on our voyage,
rather nervous. but full OF hope.
The distance from Bermuda to Will,
mington (the port we were bound to)
is 40 miles. For the first "a hours
We saw nothing to alarm us, but as day
light broke on the second day there was
a large American cruiser not half mile
from us. who, before we could turn
round. steamed straight at US and COM
menced firing rapidly, but very much at
random. the shot and shell all passing
over or wide of us feH
Fortunately, according to orders to
have full steam on at daybreak, we were
QUITE prepared for a run; and still more
fortunately. heavy squall Of wind and
rain that came on helped US Vastly, as we
were dead TO windward of the enemy.
and. having no top weights. we soon
dropped him astern.
He most foolishly kept yawing to
fire his bow-cnasers, losing ground each
time he did so. BY g. o'clock we were
out OF range. unhit, and by noon out OF
sight Of anything but smoke
Luckily, the chase nad driven us on
our course, instead Of away from IT; as
the consumption OF coal during a run
OF this sort, with boilers all but burst
ing from high pressure of steam. was q
most serious consideration, there being
no coal in the Confederate ports, where
wood only was used. which would not
suit our furnaces. .so
We were now evidently in very dan
gerous waters. steamers being reported
from our masthead every hour, and we
had to keep moving about in all i'll