The Republican journal., 1914-11-05
0~ Lu.-
\ "Reminiscences.

La n an Incident Which Resulted In
S'' booming Regular Commissioned
W Officer for Three Days.
,., t. Norton in the Marine Journal
y ..,,,,rs articles of this character
u r. referred to our thirteen years at
F' Of New Orleans as Harbor Mas
p saperyising Inspector for Steam
a, these were, to an extent,
o., ,.,,,. bestowed by the party in power
Ss s.,,s and Nation, it was necessary for
~ ,,sssso, of them to be of service to
Hf n.rty whenever called upon. Being
%. and active as we'll as appreciative,
WE ,9r,t rake iong for US to find places
ei .. ne could be useful. AS president
J. .onpsigr club, we were also select
IAN otfcer in the State militia and
'' committed to the position of colonel
v. .t a5' s-stf of Major General James
aJ one of the famous generals
' .is southern Confederacy, who had
~ a..j Instruction and Office at the
t ~, Al his classmate, Gen. U. S.
US. US, hen President of the United
ss;s uss the fall of 1876, pending the
l l.rorstion of Rutherford B. Hayes
w ear,Yg 18th of March, 1877. Tie
a. # New Orleans were under the
.,.ol al the State and therefore SUBJ
!. W. N he called out as the State militia.
a,s hid peen several political disturb
NJ, 'a, b4tween the rival parties. In
W. hitter feeling existed against the
r ne officials by the opposition party,
o,s saiers had all been prominent In
" ,orf4aeracy, as well as had the State
mjrjsl4lion officers, from Governor
rr bseu officers in the Federal army,
he 4iority of the (Metropolitan)
~ noIice force were soldiers who had
~ mustered out of the U. S. Army in
So9lH Consequently the valor and
,r Of each opposing party was earn
sa3 more or less ready for a scrap.
Il factions were losing no time in per-
mo themselves in strategy and drill
0mg the decision of whether Hayes
7jden would eventually be President.
has AIKEN the foregoing statement
how now we had added to our several
lions Of trust that of naval officer.
vas this way: The White League, ex-
tederates, and Tilden supporters, had
n importing arms from the North.
Governor had been kept informed of
and a little later large shipment
rgported to be due on steamship
n New York. 1t was decided by the
sr that these arms should not be de-
RED to the White League. Hence,
,ara,Ion was made to prevent such
,ugh the State militia, commanded
Gen. Langstreet. In the meantime
Governor had communicated with
;ident Grant and Secretary of the
Y Richard Thompson, asking for as
sace # it became necessary, which
.tel Commander Kells, the naval
gr FL charge of a small fleet of iron
8 laid u at this port, being ordered
AVE- -dr monitors Iris and Yuma tow
lto Ae stream and anchored so that
{ guns would cover the berth where
Steamship with her consignment of
s&a6 and. By the first mail after
order Was issued l received my com
l a- acting master of the U. S.
iu7 FTGla.
sgon the vessel was in position
.HarE=. appointed my officers from
We the seafaring element available.
tbsy In turh, assembled a colored
, VI one hundred. These TWO mont
bad oGs gun each in their turrets
hair t been loaded in nearly ten
S. And had powder been furnished
lr tas purpose and we succeeded in
Z 91-. IT would, no doubt, have gone
the apostle side of the hull from
aa12 INTO the Mississippi River
tie recoil, as the turrets fastening
he leck were eaten up with rust.
re was no intention of using these
). however, as these vessels were
Ny placed in formidable position for
mora fleet. We had neither shot,
/ nor f,wder, and our instructions
70 Fill he craft with men and OBJ
as @arIike an appearance as posi-
About as difficult proposition as
undertook. | have often wished l
Photograph of that ludicrous un-
aklng
le facts here presented are from the
spaper accounts of the event, which
-apbooked later. In three days the
"a was over, and shortly after the
assigned received a U. S. Treasury
X for $50 for service as acting mas
Of the Z. S. monitor Yuma. The
'cte1 riot took place short time
I. II was serious one, and will be
flbed n brief in our next reminis-
e,