Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-08
FIFTY YEARS AGO
IN THE STAR

ago that Lieut.. William B. Gushing ac-
complished feat that has
Cushing's become historical and is
of especial interest at
0ApAoit' this time as the fore
runner of submarine naval attacks such
as those figuring in the war in Europe.
Lieut.. Cushing's report to Rear Ad-
miral Porter concerning the destruction
of the Confederate ram Albemarle n
Roanoke river, North Carolina. the
night of October 81, 1864. is printed in
The Star of November 2:
ION the night of the 9th. having
prepared my steam launch / proceeded
toward Plymouth with thirteen officers
and men, partly volunteers from the
squadron. The distance from the mouth
of the river to the ram was about eight
miles, the stream averaging in width
from 200 yards and lined with the
enemy's pickets. A mile below the
town was the wreck of the Southfield,
surrounded by some schooners. and it
| was understood that a gun was mount
ed there to command the bend. I.
therefore, took one of the Shamrock's
cutters in tow, with orders to cast off
and board If we were hailed. Our boat
succeeded in passing the pickets and
even the SouthfieId.- within twenty
yards. without discovery. and we were
not hailed until by the lookouts on the
ram. The cutter was then cast off
and ordered below, while we made for
! the enemy under full head of steam.
The rebels sprung their rattle, rang
the bell and commenced firing, at the
| same time repeating their hail and
iseemiug much confused. The light of
a fire ashore showed me the ironclad
1 fast to the wharf, with Il pen of logs
around her about thirty feet from her
side. Passing her close by, we made
/
fairly. and went into her bows on.
| by this time the ehemy's fire was
livery severe, but dose of canister at
short range served to moderate their
zeal and disturb their aim. Paymaster
Swan was wounded near me, but how
many more l know not. Three bullets
struck my clothing. and the air seemed
full of them. In moment we had
| struck the logs. just abreast of the
quarter port. breasting them in some
feet and our bows resting on them. The
torpedo boom was then lowered. and
by vigorous pull 1 succeeded in driv-
ing the torpedo under the overhang and
Exploding It at the same time that the
IAlbemarle's gun was fred. A shot
seemed to- go smashing through my
boat. apd a dense mass of water rushed
in from the torpedo. filing the launch
and completely disabling her. The
enemy then continued his fire at fifteen
feet range and demanded our surren-
der, which I twice refused, ordering
!
moving my own coat and shoes and
jumping into the river, I swan with
others into the middle of The. stream
1.-THE rebels..failins to hit uss-1SEhe most
OF our parts..Wsre captured.se Some Were
drowned, an&;only one escaped be Sides
/ myself. and he in another direction /,
Completely exhausted, I managed to
reach the shore. but was TOO weak to
crawl out of the water until just at
daybreak. when 1 managsd to creep
into the swamp. close to the fort. While
hiding q few feet from the path two
OF, The Atbemarle's officers Faased, and.
! MdEfd from their conYsrssrtyn that;
| the Snip was destroyed. Home hours.
travelling in the swamp served TO bring
me out we'll below the town, when /
sent a negro in to gain information
ana round that the ram was truly sunk.
| proceeding through another swamp /
came to creek and captured. "a skiff
belonging to a picket of the enemy and
with this by IL o'clock the next night
nad made my way out to the Valley
City. The ram is now completely sub
merged and the enemy have sunk three
tschQoners III the river to tobsirucr the
passage of our ships
Washinetons police force was so small
at this time fifty years ago that there
| was very narrow
Citys Small margin of reserve for
Police Force its duty In The Star
of November = 1864
is news story which Illustrates the diff
ficulty of maintaining the patrols:
The beats Of the metropolitan police
were not patrolled last night as usual in
| the early hours and citizens noticing The
fact could not account for the absence of
the policemen. The reason was that
Supt. Webb had been notified that a po-
"a Ia I,A1I
ward and there We're fears of riot To
secure peace he detailed a Very strong
| force to that point, which necessarily
took men from the beats east of 9th
| street west. He was also requested to
detail force for duty at the Colored
Presbyterian Church, 18th street. where
| the colored citizens were holding Il meet
| ing Tor rejoicing over the adoption OF the
new constitution of the state Of Mary
! land This detail called IA pumber ri Do
| ltcenen from the western beats For-ff-
natelE there was no disorder al either
place while the officers were on duty AMI
the regular beats We're quiet except in.the
| fourth ward. where some soldiers. taking
advantage of the absence of the police
behaved in Il very disordery manner.
Supt. Webb does the most in his power
With the number Of men in his force. but
la MUCH larger force is needsa foi. ihe
amount III WORK required. -
The presidential election took place. on
tuesday. November $. 1864. and for some
time prior to thar date eli
Departing villains and soldiers who
uo4. lad obtained leaves We're
streaming through Wash
inStun to go north to vote. In The Star
of November !. 1864, is Il paragraph in
part as follows:
For over week past the different
trains northward have been taking away
large numbers of soldiers and others to
their respective residences to cast their
votes tomorrow and il is calculated since
last Monday morning over 81. 900 persons
have passed over the road. So great has
been the rush that at times the depot has
been crowded for hours before the de-
partIre of the trains with those anxious
to get even standing room in the cars
and on the platforms. The rush at the
gate has at times been tremendous and
the guard there had to be strengthened
and on one or two occasions soldiers, in
their anxiety to get away, not liking the
judicious measures taken by the COM
pany to prevent the cars being crowded
by friends OF pa ssengers anxious to spend
their last minute with them. threatened
to tear down the railing, and some after
getting in the gate, having respect for
the especially reserved for the ladies
(Which is usually opened to ladies and
their companions only, have attempted
to get in by the windows. The wants
of the public have, however. been prompt
lv nv ba nd urba u