The sun., 1916-12-02

a collision between the Clinton of the
MO Ferry Company and another
steamer and made note that ;he elm
ton was formerly the Commodore Nor
ris Of the United States navy.
AS I was the first paymaster Of the
Norris l am Interested in this and II
occurs to me that. after ffty-four years.
you may like to learn something OF her
war history. ! was ordered to her at the
New York Navy Yard on November I.
1852. Her first list Of officers was az
follows: Lieutenant-C Commander James
II. ellis. commanding. OF Allegheny
City, Pa. acting master. Augustus A.
Lewis OF Chatham. Mass. acting ensign.
Philip b. Low Of Chelsea. Mass. acting
ensign. Henry NJ. Pierce OF Dover.
N. H.: acting masters mates, Ralph
c. j. Pendleton and Charles A.. Blanch-
nrd Of Yarmouth. Me. and william n.
Otis OF Chelsea, Mass. . acting assistant
surgeon. Morris II. Henry Of New York
acting assistant paymaster. Calvin G..
Hutchinson OF R%oxbury. Mass. engi-
heers. Volney Cronk Of New Brunswick.
N. j.: Benjamin T. Halves OF New
York. Henry j.. Watkins Of New York.
Henry Herbenson Of Philadelphia.
The Morris lief; the New York yard on
November 81. 1852. for Fortress Mon
roe. Va. arriving OIL November 20. The
bot was ftted for naval work by
planking up under her guards with what
were called Sponsors. making her look
like a huge saucer sitting on the water.
Her waterways were reinforced by
heavy timbers from the house round
each end and in these were fixed heavy
eyebolts for securing the guns. She
had no windlass nor capstan and her
anchor was got up by the entire crew
hitching watch tackles to the chain
and tramping from end to end throug
the gangways. The house was COM
paratively low. not over eight or nine
feet. and the cabins on the guards were
bulkheaded on into small rooms for the
officers. &c. The crew slung their ham
mocks to hooks fixed In the
ard these were closed in by a pair of
barn doors at zach end Of each gang
way. The crew OF eighty or ninety men
were divided into two watches of sea-
men. landsmen. fremen and coal
beavers. The engine was horizontal. all
below deck. and there was a steam drum
extending above II mex the funnel.
There were two powder magazines. one
Lnder each end deck. and very small
stowage for coal and provisions. I could
only carry about a months supply of
the latter. Her battery was heavy:
one 100 FOUNDER Parrot on a pivot for
ward. one nine inch Dahlgren on pivot
~ u.A " -,
each end next the house. and two ~
FOUNDER brass howitzers on land car
riaSes on :op OF the house. making eight
guns I'm all, The decks sank under the
weight OF the pivot guns and the first
thing We did was to get timber a: the
Norfolk yard and shore them up.
Her boats were a four jared gig FOR
the captain and two eight cared whale
boat cutters hung on davits. and that re-
minds me that, having no cstheads. her
anchors were swung In 10y means OF An
extra heavy dav.t. requiring several
men to handle IL. which was stepped In
a socket when to he used and otherwise
left lying under the waterway in every
body's way when the pivot gun was to
be nred. Her fore and aft decks were
surrounded by plates OF iron hinged
90 the waterways with stanchions at
intervals and a rail N top. All this
hamper a to be dropped when in ac-
ton. She was dangerous to come along
OF in the boats, a. they were likely
to catch under the guards in a seawa
There was a ladder with a platform
top and bottom on the %starboard side
aft and this had to be slowed on the
longer passages,
The Commodore Morris WAS on picket
duty In the James River until March.
1883, making trips TO various points