E 591 .021 Copy 2 J IGH 9.S JLi) Salts. o-^^o^V^\^^/ % MVK DEDICATE THIS GREAT VJORK ON Makink Wakfake TO OUR FRIEND AND FKLL()W-( ll'I/KN, geor(;b w. ri(;(;s, Banker, CirRisTiAN, and Gentleman. Wk uo this as a smai.i, kktukn kou tiik many timks ilk has pii.otkd us throijgu storms am) thkown us a link whkn wk wkkk among kkkakkks. F. C. ADAMS. HIGH OLD SALTS. STORIES INTENDED FOR THE MARINES, TOLD BEFORE AN ENLI6HTEHED Coir}ii:|ittee of Coiigi'e^^. f' — ■■ — . • Bv F. COLBURN ADAMS. Author of The Siege of ll^ashington : Story of a Trooper, and other /woks. WASIIlNfiTON, J), r.: Oil. /S70. For Sale by all Booksellers, Price 50 Cent (( 'f)j)ijriii/il .sfviircil.) i> 'Z HIGH oi,D SAi;rs. STORIES INTENDKl) FOR THE MARINES, BUT TOLD UE- FORE AN EXI.KUITENEl) COMMITTEE OF CONORESS. LETTER No. 1. All impression Imd long prevailed that Captain Cuttle would .s[)in no more long yarns, and that the illustrious Buusby was dead, and for opinions, as mere opinions, we should never look on the like of him again ; but it seems that was a mistake. The illustrious Bunsby is not dead ; and the corpulent Cuttle still holds a very high place in our great American Navy, and sj)ins long yarns. We do not claim any very i)articular credit for giving the above very im])ortant information to the great American public. Mr. Whitthorne, a very amiable gentleman, and famous as an explorer, who commanded the Teune.ssec Navy during our late unpleasantness, is entitled to all the credit, and should receive it. Admiral Whitthorne is now chairman of the Committee on Naval Atfairs of the House, llis mind is expansive and pen- etrating, and, when not under too much pressure, capa- ble of grasping and solving the most difficult questions of law, religion, and navigation. Indeed, it was the possession of these great qualities of brain power which iiialilnl liiiii to so sati.sfjutorily solve tlie great (luestion of Bimsby's IHo or deatli, and the fact tliat we still had a Cai)taiii Cuttle to spin long yarns. One very foggy morning, in December last, (we are particular about the time,) it occurred to this very amiable gentleman, Admiral Whitthorne, that he would make a thorough study of the American Navy, with a view to preparing himself for any maritime adventures he might be engaged in, in case of another unpleasant- ness between the North and South. Being a man of sprightly thought it struck him that the best and shortest way of accomplishing this gi'eat purpose was to consult the Navy Register and send all the high old admirals, commodores, captains, and commanders a confidential circular letter, inviting them to give their opinions con- cerning the present condition of the great American Navy, and what should be done to imjirove it and make it terrible in the eyes of the world. Sailors, whether admirals or boatjjiwains, are not famous as philosophers. They are, indeed, generally accepted as a queer combination of the comic and ro- mantic. And if there is any one thing they like to en- gage in more than another it is what is vulgarly called gabbling. And, too, they are profuse of opinions on all sorts of subjects. We have known a very high old ad- miral who could beat all the authors and editors in the country consuming foolscap and letter paper, and yet, remarkable as it may seem, he would say less than any gentleman within the sco]>e of our accpiaintanoe. Sailors are also proverbial grumblers. They will Hnd subjects tt) gnnnble over when, ajiparently, none exist. The l)resent Admiral of tlie American Navy is a very forcc- ablo example of tlie triitli of what we say ; aud it is doing him no injustice to m\d that he can, within a given time, write more and longer letters than any gentleman of our acquaintance. We wish we could say they contained real information equal to their number and length. Responses to Admiral Whitthorne's confidential cir- cular letter came thick and fast ; so fast, indeed, tlfat he began to fancy himself the fool who stood wondering at his own folly. In short, his letter was a temptation to gabble no first-class mariner could resist. It was the sailor's golden opportunity, and he end)raced it. In less than two weeks Admiral Whitthoj-ne found himself re- solved in a village post-office, and the happy possessor of not les» than three bushel baskets full of opinions concerning the Navy, and what should be done with it. There were long opinions and short opinions — the short ones being decidedly the best. The longest ones came chiefly from the oldest and best paid admirals and com- modores on the retired list, and are proof that there are men in the world who can devote themselves exclusively to grumbling and writing on subjects they know nothing whatever about. The authors of many of these letters, it is evident, never expected to see them in print. Indeed, it was cruel of Admiral Whitthorne to make them public, when they were only intended to be read in private — or to the marines. By giving them to the public he not only exposes the authors to ridicule but afibrds amuse- ment for the unthinking, which is a very serious oflTense against good manners and ordinary morals. 6 Being published and given to the public we suggest that these letters be preserved, and called "Curiosities of Naval Literature, by OtHcers of ih.- Cnnt American Navy." Looking at his three bushels ol ojjinions, Admiral Whitthorne now felt satisfied that he had the means of knowing all about the great American Navy. Oi' course lie had. But he overlooked the fact that these very letters contained the best proofs that Navy oflicers are proverbial grumblers, brave perhaps, but impractical, obstinate in a.sserting their opinions, unprogressive, and stubbornly oppo.sed to what they consider innovations. A well-known French author has said navy officers were good enough fellows as sailors, but very dangerous as diplomats. These peculiar traits of char.icter are by no means limited to the Anierican Navy. They prevail to a much greater extent in the English and French navies, especially among the older officers. Outside of a charity hospital for old maids there is no place where you can get such a diversity of opinions on any one subject as among officers of the Navy. One will know exactly how to sail a ship, build a ship, sjmr a ship, rig a shi{); but he will ditter with all his brother officers in regard to the best method of handling a ship in liattle. Another will give you opinions by the yard, not alone concerning the handling of a ship, but on steam engineering and naval construction. The old< i tlie admiral or commodore, the more resolute he will bi- in (h'fVindinghis claim to superior knowledge on all tiiese subjects. If, htjwever, you would satisfy yourself that this fine old admiral or commodore knew just nothing at all about steam euginecring or naval construetion, you liavc only to put him before the blackboard for iifteen minutes ami he will demonstrate his ineapaeity to your entire satisfaetion. You would find thai not one in ten of (hem I'Oidd explain the dilirri'iicc lielwct'U a coiu- ponnd and what is known as a sim[)l(^-type engiiii'. Handling- a ship at sea, lighting a ship in action, and maneuvering a squadron, constitute a profession distinct and vet co-ordinate with tlie })r()f('ssioiis of steam engi- neeiing and naval construction. Flencc! it is in the highest degree essential to success that all these profes- sions should work in perfect harmony. Hut instead of harmony, the h'tters we have referred to contain the most positive proof that the ofHcers re})resenting one of these professions are continually exerting their influence to belittle the character and destroy the usefulness of the others. They are all professions in which the best minds and bravest soids the country possessed have been engaged i'or the greatest good. These petty jealousies we see cropping out everywhere should be discouraged by every othcer who values the true interests of the service and exerts his energies to jiromote it. The line, how- ever, arrays itself in contimial conlliet with the staff on the simple and, to the generous minded, very frivolous (piestion of relative rank and social position, as if the fair name of the great American Navy (le|)('nde(l solciv on rank and social inequality ; indeed, that the efficiency of the Navy can only be maintained by Congress giving ihe line oftieers a monopoly of rank and social j)osition. The sentiments contained in many of the.se letters carry one's mind back an hundred yi^ars, to the days of 8 Nelson, and tuniljle-sidcd and top-lianipered line of bat- tle ships, and sevt'ntv-f()ur.s, before steam engineering was applied to na\'igation. We are for going forward, not l)ack\vard. A very remarkable featni'e of this con- troversy is tliat the line rontines its animosity chiefly to the engineer corps, forgetting that if raidc has elevated and improved one branch of the service — which it con- fessedly has — their own branch of the service shonld also be a gainer by it. Indeed, it is for these gentlemen of the line to say how far they will take advantage of the opportunity it affords them of elevating their own branch of the service. We can easily understand how I'elative rank may have disturbed the ancient notions of dignity entertained by some of our fine old gold-em- broidered and cock-hatted admirals and commodores on finding themselves on an ecjual footing at a dinner table with engineers, doctors and paymasters. But, then, this is not only a progressive but a practical age ; and even so important a thing as rank must give way to its de- mauds. T]:.ST1.'\U>XV CAI-Ct'LATKl) TO MISI.KAD. Asailor's motto is that when you have spun a long yarn, no matter how absurd it may be, you must assert that every word of it is true, and fight the man who disputes it. This motto seems to have been followed somewhat too closely for the interests of truth by Admiral Porter and others, as shown by their testimony before the Naval Committee of the House during the last session of Con- gress. We purpose to show how very unreliable and calcu- 9 hi ted to mislead some of thi-s te.sliniouy was; and in doing so we sluill confine ovnsclf to such witnesses as were accepted by the Coniiuittce as in every way com- petent and free from selfish motives. And we shall begin by quoting from A modi: I, [j;tti:u from our genial little friend (Jonimodorc Jefters, Chief of the Bureau of Oi-dnance. This remarkable letter is of the gold-embroidered type, addressed to Admiral Whitthorne, and may be found in Miss. Doc. 170, part 8, page 05. " I think," siiys tin: genial litll<' commodore, " tbe provi- sion of law whioli gives six years' precedence! to statl' ofBcers in counting length of service in relative rank, prejudicial to the 1>est interests of the service, and it should be rei)ealed." There is no mistaking an opinion like that, or that it came from the quarter-deck. Now, for an opinion as is au opinion concerning the marines. Here we must say that a sailor's opinion of tlu^ marines is always in- teresting : '• I am also of opinion tliat no t'lirtlier appointments should he made in the Marine Corp-; ; hut that a line olticiu- [lino otlicer mind you] shall he detailed to command the mai'ine, guard on hoard ship, as he now conimanerinlended the con- struction of the Monitor in New York, was on board during the fight, worked the tvirret, and was conspic- uous for his coolness and gallantry, and rendered very important service after the injury to Captain Worden. And yet Stimers' name was hardly mentioned in con- nection with the fight. Worden carried off all the laurels and all the rewards. Stimers ajjpreciated Worden and was not the man to claim any share of the rewards for himself. We may err in ti'cating this renuirkable letter of our genial little friend so seriously. While reading it, and pondering over it, and thinking what a stning(> frame of mind the author must have l)een in when he wrote it, we were forcibly reminded of a story AVashing- ton Irving used to tell in his inimitable way of a nunt- ber of worthy old Dutchmen who lived in j)eac(> and l)rosperity on the banks of the Tapj)an Zee. These worthy old burghers were interested in certain sloops, which monopolized all the cai-rying trade between New York and the Tappan Zee. Hearing that one Mr. Ful- 14 ton, being in no fear of the devil, and with the evil in- tention of destroying the business of the sloops, had constructed a ship of frightful ap})earance, as big as two sloops, and to run up and down the river on wheels, no matter which way the wind blew, and to carry a big tea-kettle in her bottom — greatly alarmed at what they fancied to be impending ruin, these worthy Dutchmen called a midnight meeting in the little church by the hillside, near what is now called Tarrytown ; and then, by the aid of a tallow candle, deliberated until nearly daylight as to the best means of snuffing out this Mr. Fulton and his mischievous project. It was rumored about that the Claremout would make her first trip up the river on the following day ; thereupon it was finally resolved that Peter Yon Ketchum, (very likely the W'Orthy ancestor of Commissioner Ketchum of this city,) one of their number, who stood six feet seven inches in his boots, and was famous along the banks of the Tappan Zee lor his great strength, should, on the ap- pearance of this Mr. Fulton's ship, go down into the river with a big boathook, and in that way stop her progress. Peter did what he was ordered ; but there was a funeral a few days after, attended by all the worthy old Dutchmen in the village. It was Peter Von Ketchura's funeral. His friends shed any number of tears for him, and said hv was a brave man. Many years have rolled by since we heard Irving repeat this simple story of the old Dutchman and his boathook to his friends. The i:)hilosophy of this simple stoiy may afford the genial little Commodore an ex- cellent subject for study. 15 LETTER No. 2. To^tiiiioiiy given witli the best of iiiteulious luid by the purest of persous may not at all times express the exact truth. Indeed, its tendency may, and too fre- (juently does, mislead as to facts. Even the best of tes- timony, liable to misconstruction as it is, should be \vei>i;h(Ml witli extreme care lest innocent persons suffer by it. An otHcer of the Government, holding an high and important ])osition in one of its branches, when called before a Committee of Congress to testify as an expert, should be extremely careful that what he testifies to is based on facts within his own knowledge. Mis aim should be to instruct, not mislead a committtje. We say this because the testimony of Commander Mead and others, given recently before the Committee investigating naval affairs, was of a character to entirely mislead the Com- mittee, and through it the public. Let us take the most charitable view of this subject. Mr. .Mead is one of those chronic grumblers we have before referred to • and is never happy except when he gets a pen in his hand and a ream of foolscap before him. Thus armed and provided he will make the fiercest of tvar on llichavd Mead and the King's English. On land Kichard never is without a war; at sea he will quarrel over his duff; and yet his greatest misfortune is that he never thor- oughly understands what he writes altout or makes war upon. Tiie. most conspicuous case of a gentleman being nns- IG led as to his facts and testifying in a inauiu'r wliicli nuist have givciv the Coniinittoc and the ])nhli(' a very erroneous in)pi'ession, may l)e ibund in llu! testimony of our amiable little Irieiid Commodori' detlers, on com- pound engines. Rising at the head of the Committee's table, and with an air that plainly said, lookout for a broadside of opinions as are opinions, the little Commodore first cap- tured a number of large and small inkstands, with which lie proceeded to enlighten the Committee on the pressure in compound boilers. He had not procnieded far when it became evident that he had not only surprised but captivated several members of the Conunittee with the depth and extent of his knowledge of the subject he was using their inkstands to illustrate. To be sure, il was a novel way of explaining a great subject, but the Committee was wide-awake and took the meat of it all in at a glance. The little Commodore had given the inkstands a rest of a few moments. He now picked up the largest one and held it menacingly before the eyes of the wondering Whitthorne, and Willis, and jNLills, and Harris. Hav- ing satisfied these gentlemen that the inkstand was- ])ei- fectly harmless, he proLCCtled : "Gentlemen, let us suppose tli is inkstand represents a com- pound boiler ; and all boilers of compound engine- hold ex- actly two hundred and fifty ('250) cubic feet of water. Now. as exactly sixty (GO) pounds per square inch of steam is usrd in these boilers they are very liable to explode." Yes, gentlemen of the Committee, exjdode. Jusl al this moment the delineator let the inkstand dro[), send 17 iiig tlu- (oiiimiUce iiilo a slate of alarm. Admiral Whitthorne winki'd both liis eyes in rapid siiccos-sioii ! Mr. ]Nrill;j oast furtive tihuiee.s at the door; Mr. Willis rail his iiiigers iiervoiislv over his bright hald head ; and Mr. Harris looked more than usually solemn. I'^ear ol' heiug exploded by this villainous iuveiitioii, the eom])ound boiler, was what was troubliug the little Commodore. If ordered on sea duty he would sleep more tranquil of nights over an old tasliioned type of boiler, with eighteen or twenty pounds of steam on. Tlis alarm increased as hv proceeded : " Now ;i eiiLic fiK)t of wator licutcd to a ti'iaperature due to sixty ])ouiuls of pi'essiire is oqiail to a pound of gunjiowder " [(iunpowdor, mind you !] " in the way of ('X|)lo.siv(' niateriul. I i steam pres- sure was nearly doubled as soon as the Alabama came out of Cherbourg. Again : In the attack on TNIobile there was a picssure of lo pounds in the boilers of Admiral Farragut's flag- ship, while the mean running pressure at sea for the next preceding passage was only IU.7 pounds. In all cases of action, and in some cases of degc, the boiler pressure has been increased. Commodore Jeffers cannot produce the record of any of our ships going into a fight without the maxiuuira pressure, or nearly so, in i\w boilers. Accept his theory that in going into action, with a simple or any other engine, " you blow the steam off the boilers until it is just above the atmospheric pressure," and whal l)ecomes of your powci- to nunueu- vre ? On the western rivers, during the war, vessels, with simple or non-condensing en(/hie-'<, went into action fre- quently w'ith more than one hundred (lOO) pounds pres- sure in their boilers. The reason for this increase of pressure on going into action will readily be seen. It enables you to work the engines with greater power, and ensures quicker movements, slionld they become neces- sarv. 21 The (:r/il(>-unds of water, and 60 pounds weight of steam. The l)oilei-s of the Kear- -arge extended two feet above the water line, while the boilers of the Adams, a vessel of the same size, are en- tirely below the water line. The calculation we give below is for the maximum possible dynamic effect, and is api)lied rigorously to both cases. It is also made for one boiler, as suggested by ('ommodore Jeffers. Kkaksakge. Larf/r Small Jini/rr. Jioilcr. I'ressure (P) in lbs. per s(|. in. •, above tlie atmosphere! 20 20 Temperature (T) of steam and of I water dne to tliat presnre I'lid. I' 260.1" AVeiglit ( W) of water in tlie boi- ler", in lbs. avoirdupois lS,(iOS 12,5:12 \Veight;")of steam in the boiler, in ibs. avoirduiJols 75.1 GO. Total heat (II) in the stcaiu, in, degrees Fahrenheit 1,1!«.;»' 1,119.3H" Total heat (H'j in steam, at al- 1 mospheric pressure i 1,178.6" I 1,178.0° One Boiler. 00 .311.2' 0,720 12.1 1,208.S50" 1,178.0° There would be on the release of the pressure a defi- nite quantity of water evaporized, which would in turn 22 iiugniciit the explosion. We will now suppose a shot to have pierced the boiler, aud the water thus vaporized to have the same dynamic effect as the pre-existing steam, and also that the total force of the explosion be expended in lifting vertically upward a vessel of 1,000 tons displacement ; and we will further suppose that all the heat available in each case will be utilized. The heat lost by the water, in the boiler, on its release of pressure, will be measuix-d by the expression T' — 212, and the quantity of water vaporized w'ould be measured by the expression — VV(T-212) 966.1 ^ ^'^ And to this we must add the weight of steam (w) already in the boiler, making Q, -\- w. In equation (1) W = tlie weight of thp water in the boilef, and 966.1 the number of thermal units necessary to vaporize one pound of Avater. The range of temperature between the total heat in steam at T' degrees and that at the atmospheric pressure is — 11 — H^ = h (2) And the height to which 1,000 tons would be projected will be measured by the equation — 772 X (Q + w) X h __ i,uoox^,^4o ^'; Substituting the numerical values for the letters in equation (3) we have — Large boiler of the Kearsarge S -: 12.89 feet. Small boiler of the Kearsarge S = 11.28 feet. Boiler of the Adams 7.32 feet. -y?. But .•^upjHtsing llu; boiler of one of our coinpoiiml eiigiaes shou/d hold 2~)0 cubic feet of water, and that a pressure of (50 pounds should be used, as ^[r. .letters has sworn. Tlu'ii the height to which 1,000 tons would be lifted would be, from (Hpiation (3,) 1.000 X ^,--10 While the total heat of the combustion of 250 pounds of gunpowder would rai.se the same weight just 61.7 ,. . 01. 7 o - i^- 1-1 teet, or --— ■ ,].i times as hn;h. From ( ieneral liodman's ex[)(!riineiits he found that the complete combustion of cannon powder, burned in its own volume, gave a pressure of 185,000 })ouuds per .square inch. He burned 10 j)ounds of cannon powder in an iron cylinder o.S-) inches in diameter by 72 inches in height, which was just the volume of 10 pounds of {lowder, and which gave him \\\v. result. The space occupied by 250 pounds of cannon [)ovvtler is a cylinder of los inches base l)y 54.84 inches in height. Taking the pressure deduced by Rodman, viz., 1 '^5,000 pounds per square inch, (he pressure on the base of l')i inches is 2,520,G25 pounds, and the total dynamic eft'ect of the whole cylinder is l-')8, 281,075 pounds, and this divided by 2,240,000 pounds will give (he number of feet through which 1,000 tons can be moved by that pressure, viz., 61.7 feet. This is the maximum possible dynamic effect, (>xactlv as in the case of the boilers. Here is a gentleman, Head of the I>ui-eau of Naval < )rdnance, and in hi^•h staiidini'- anion "• (he line olH- 24 cers, who actuully doea uot kuow the relative lifting power of guupowder and steam. He shows himself to be alike ignorant of the merits of compound engines ; and yet he astonishes a wliole Committee of Congress with his knowledge of the sii])eriority (?) of the old or simple type of engine over the compound. Of the twenty-odd oflicers of the line who recently undertook to enlighten the C^ommittee on Naval Affairs of the House on the demerits of compound engines, scarcely one of them showed that he knew the first j)riuciple of their working. This did not reflect much credit on the jjersonnel of the navy. Navy officers, as a rule, forget that establislied facts drive theories to the wall. Now, your average Congressman is proverbially stupid. He comes to Washington fresh from his rural district, with a very limited knowledge of literature, art, science, or natural philosophy, much less naval matters and engiueei'ing. His whole stock in trade consists of an im})erfect knowledge of the political history of his State, an inordinate ambition to serve his con- stituents, personally or otherwise, and make too a little reputation for himself. He is happy if he can get on an investigating comnuttee, for that afiords him a new and enlarged field for the object of his ambition. If there is any one thing he needs more than another it is to be instructed correctly by officeis like Admiral Porter and Commodore -leffers, who stand before the country at the head of their profession. Instead of this, wehaveboth these high officials doing all in their power to excite i)rejudi(H' against the Navy generally, to belittle its force, and to mislead the Committee, and through it create erroneous impressions in the minds of the peojjle. Tlie isimple t'acL i.<, the ('oiiipoiiiKl eiigiiu- is \vorkiii<;- a ivvolutioii ill steam eiigiuoeriujj, just as the first intvo- (liit'tiou ot" steam worked a revolution in navigation, and again, as the serew worked a revolution over the side wheel. All these, considered as innovations at the time but now acknowledged as triumphs of skill and perseverance, were persistently opposed and their utter failure predicted by just such high authorities as Ad- miral D. D. Porter and Commodore Jetfers. We re- member how persistently a fine old British Admiral, commanding the North American squadron, nearly half a century ago, predicted that neither the " Royal William," then in Halifax harbor, nor the "Savannah" would ever get across the Atlantic, " ivlth ivheeh." He demonstrated the whole thing, and brought his scieutific knowledge in to aid him, just as Admiral Porter and Commodore Jeffers did recently. His astonishment may be easily imagined when the news reached him that both ships had crossed the Atlantic in safety, and that the Royal William had used " her Avheels " all the voyage. Lardner turned out no better as a prophet ; and we all know what a mean way he took to excuse his blun- ders. The opposition to the screw was even more per- sistent. High scientific authorities of the Porter and Jetfers non-progressive type, told us exactly how such a weighty encumbrance at the stern of a ship would be sure to work her destruction during the fii'st heavy sea; that no sternpost could be made strong enough to stand the strain. The slightest accident to the Sarah Sands, the first ocean steamer to adopt it that we know of, was caught up and heralded over the country as proof posi- "4 26 tive that the screw uevev could be a success. Imper- fect as the machinery on board of the Sarah Sands was, she in the end proved a success as an ocean steamer, notwithstanding the many impediments thrown in her way by gentlemen of high scientific attainments. The screw was not a perfect piece of machinery at first. It had to be improved, like every new invention. But no sensible man will to-day be foolish enough to say it is not an acknowledged triumph in ocean navigation. The same may be said of the compound engine. It is work- ing another revolution in steam engineering. The high scientific authorities of England and France have already ceased their opposition to it, and theii- best practical engineers have acknowledged its merits and adojDted it. There may still be some imperfections about it. Minor improvements may be needed and our work- ing engineers made more thoroughly acquainted with its details, but the day is not far distant when it will be ac- cepted as the greatest achievement of steam engineering. 27 LETTER No. 3. The future historian of our kite war will have two very difficult tasks to perform — oue in siftiug truth from falsehood as it appears in official records ; the other iu giving Admiral D. D. Porter his proper place among the heroes of the conflict. We say this without any disparagement to Admiral Porter as a brave officer. He will, however, find in the Admiral a character very unevenly balanced, and one of the most difficult to analyze correctly. He has at times reminded us of one of those strange characters we read of in Italian history, who live entirely within themselves and for themselves) who are never so happy as when they are making mis- chief; whose life is a continual struggle to elevate themselves by pulling other and better men down, and with whom truth and justice arc not things worth being loyal to. Admiral Porter's mind seems to be in a state of con- tinual alarm. He looks at the American Navy with weeping eyes and through clouded glasses, tells us it is certainly going to the dogs, and that we Avould certainly get whipped in a contest with even a fifth-rate power. This chronic fear of being whipped by any three-ship mari- time power is not creditable to the Admiral pei'sonally or to the reputation our Navy has earned for itself abroad. What we obj(;ct to most is not that the Ad- miral should indulge his fears, but that he shall yearly parade them before the nations of Europe. We would rather charge this to a mistaken ambition than to moral cowardice. Still, as it does the Navy a great injustice, 28 and implies a censure on its personnel as well as its ma- terial, the bad eifects are even more damaging than if they were simply the offspring of moral cowardice. The Admiral's testimony before the Naval Committee is instructive if not interesting reading. It is very evi- dent that Porter Avas uppermost in Porter's mind when Porter gave that testimony. And we have come to the conclusion, after carefully reading it, that there is only one man in the United States who knows all about the American Navy, or who can make it comuuiud the respect of the world, and his name is D. D. Porter. We say this with due respect for his modesty. Admiral Whitthorne and the Committee, we are happy to say, shared his opinion and reported accordingly. We cannot help saying that had the Committee made charitable allowance for a weakened brain and a very disordered liver the interests of trull i and right would have been better served. Let us listen for a few minutes to what this high old Admiral told the Committee, and in the most solemn manner, about "the deplorable condition of our Navy." "Our Navy, taken as a whole, is worth nothing; and the sooner the country understands that fact the better." " It would require a groat stretch of credulity to make one believe that the Navy is in the flourishing condition repre- sented by Chief Constructor Hanscom in his late report to the Honorable Secretary of the Navy. Probably he believes what he says, ' that the power of our iron-clads for harbor and coast defense, where the fighting will be done in smooth water, must be considered equal, if not superior, to that of a large number of sea-going iron-clads of other nations; and that no officer in command of one of our monitors would hesitate to ens^airo 29 in action, in smooth water, any .sea-going iron-clad yet afloat, cxcej)t perhaps a few of the latest type.' " Again, we see how fear of our Navy getting wliii)pe(l by .some insignificant power distresses our Admiral. This sort of stuff is not creditable to its author, either as a man of generous impulses or sound judgment. He never did like Chief Naval Constructor Hanscom ; if we are rightly informed, the dislike is mutual. Hans- com has no very profound respect for rank, and in more than one instance, in appearing before so great an Ad- miral failed to make a salute according to the regula- tions. And, too, he was given to smiling, as Admiral Whitthorne is to winking, aud on two occasions (two, mind you,) actually a2)peared in the presence of this awful Admiral with a smile on his face, when he should have been intensely solemn. Hence this clashing be- tween the Admiral's pen and the Constructor's broad- axe. Again, Admiral Poi'ter says : " Our (itlicers, as has been proved, are ready to do battle, even with the mo.-t desperate odds ; but 1 do not believe there is anyone who would engage one of the ships alluded to, in smooth water or otherwise, unless he wanted to throw his own vessel away." These are fair specimens of the testimony given by the Admiral, and received as gospel. That our Navy is not equal to England's in heavy iron-clads will be conceded. But every unprejudiced man who thoroughly under.stands the subject will admit that our Navy is in a better condition to-day than it ever was before, and instead of beinu- worsted in a contest with a lifth-rate 30 power, as the Admiral would have us believe, it could in niuety days be put in a condition to cope with some of the first-rate powers. Before we get through we shall give facts and figures enough to satisfy any un- biased mind that what we say is true. He says millions of dollars have been squandered, and the American Navy ruined. Perhaps millions have been squandered. We will admit that there has been too much of what is called Cattellism in the Navy ; but in the matter of S(|uaQderiug millions, if we can judge from experience, we should say Porterism would not be an improvement. A great Navy is a great and very costly luxury ; and, organized as ours is, can only be kept up at great cost. If Admiral Porter wants to see squandering done on a grand scale he must visit p]ng- land's dockyards. And what is Admiral Porter's cure for all the ills he would have the country believe the Navy has been afflicted with since he lost control of it? A Board of Admiralty. He was too modest to say, a Board of Admiralty with Admiral Porter at its head. We have a very vivid recollection of this veiy same Admiral in the role of Secretary of the Navy, Board of Admiralty, and the Department generally. And yet he was not a success, nor was he happy. Innocent pei'sous at a dis- tance sincerely believed jioor old Mr. Borie was at least Secretary of the Navy. That was a mistake. Borie was only chief clerk to Porter. And it was Porter who spent, or rather squandered, nearly forty millions of dollars in less than two years, and succeeded in making the Navy ridiculous. There is no other name for it. He caunot point us to one good ship built or rebuilt during his illustrious reign of two years in the Navy Depart- ment. We can point him to a number of disgraceful failures. He squandered more money on useless and frivolous experiments, and issued more absurd and ridiculous orders than was done by the Navy Depart- ment before or since. And he was made unhappy, and has been unhappy ever since, because his career of mis- chief was cut short. A man whose mind is continuously balancing between his ambition and his avarice, who is happy only when he is elevating himself»at the expense of others, is not a safe person either to confide in or trust with power. Avarice did we say ? The Admiral tells us further on in his testimony : " Question. Since you \vi\ tin- J)((i)iirtin(Mil I suppose you liave no personal knowledge of the niiuincr in wliieh things lire done there ? "Answer. None ut all. I have not been insitht the building four times in six years." According to thijj candiil admission the Admiral is a costly nonentity. He has nothing whatever to do but grumble and consume foolscap, and yet he draws double the pay of a Cabinet Minister. This, to say the least, is an inconsistency no republican Government should tolerate, and Congress should at once correct. The Ad- miral is known to be a man of wealth, the result of prize money made during the war. He neither enter- tains, nor gives for charity's sake. And yet, no sooner had Hecretaiy Robeson published his mischievous Order No. 21 B, putting officers of the Navy on furlough — or 32 rather, starvatitni — j)ay, than the Admiral rose to the surface witli tears in his eyes, and appealed to the Presi- dent to make him an exception ; in other words to save his pocket and relieve his conscience. He was, perhaps, less affected by tliat mischievous order than any other officer of the Navy, for it still left him the pay of a Cabinet officer, and more than that of a member of Congress, while officers who had served in the Navy nearly as long as the Admiral had their pay reduced to fourteen hundred dollars, or thereabouts. They did not go to the President with their grievances? They did not peddle their hardships among aiewspaper men. We remember Admiral Porter at Fort Fisher. It has always been a matter of doubt with us which played the more conspicuous part in the history of the taking of that fort, the redoubtable Butler or the boastful Por- ter. Butler, deeming discretion the better part of valor, adopted the Chinese method of blowing up a fort by exploding a powdei'-boat near shore, and keeping at a safe distance himself Porter thought he could improve on Butler's method by sLo; ming the fort with pen and ink. Here is a specimen of his style of action : [Private. J North A'il.vx'jic Squadkon, {' . S. Flagshh' " Malvern," Cave Fear Kivek, Ja7i. 24:th, 1865. My Dear Sir : I received your kind letter of the ITlh inst. and thank you warmly for the confidence you reposed in my opinion that this place could be taken. To the Navy Department alone is tlie country- indebted lor the capture of this rebel stronghold, for had it not been for your perseverance in keeping this fleet here and your constant propositions made to the Army, notliing would liave been 38 done. As it was, after the proposition iiad bi'cn received, and General Grant promised that troops should bo sent, it was not done until General Butler eonsented to let the matter go on, and when he hoped to reaji some little credit from the explosion of the powder-boat. Now the countrj' gives General Grant the credit of inaugurating the expedition, when on both occa- sions he permitted it to go improperly provided. In the lirst place, it had neither head nor tail as far the Army was con- cerned. In the second place, ho (Grant) sent too few men, when he ought to have calculated that the rebels would have more strongly defended the works after seeing what a narrow escape they had. Nothing but the most desperate fighting and a determination to win on the part of the Army gave us the victory. The gallant band of sailors who fearlessly went on to the works, amidst a shower of canister and bullets, drew the enemy's attention away from the a.«sault on the land side, and enabled the troops to obtain a sojcurc footing. I don't say this to detract from the gallantry of the soldiers, for never did men fight harder or more handsomely than did our troops on that day. Now that the most important ])art on tlu; coast has been gained, as usual you will hear but little of what the Navy did, and no doubt efforts will be made again to show that the work was " not substantially injured as a defensive work." To General Grant, who is always willing to take the credit when anything is done, and equally ready to lay the blame of the failure on the Navy when a failure takes place, I feel under no obligations for receiving and allowing a report to bespread from his headquarters that there were three days when the Navy miglit have operated and did not. lie knows about as much about it as he did when ho wrote to me saying that the " only way in which the place could be taken was by run- ning the ships past the batteries," showing r, and hcj;- leave ti> niakt! a reply more in detail than at tiiat time I had pro- posed to do. When an officer of a government, holding the high rank of an admiral, standing at the head of a navy of a large commercial nation like the United States, makes a state- 40 moiit to the Naval Committee of Congress u{)on the Construc- tion and Kepair Department of tlie Navy, it is expected that it will bo made with great care, be reliable as to facts, and carry with it sufficient importance to be i-eceived with marked attention and careful consideration. But it is to be regretted that the statements of the Admiral, and also of Commander Meade, (for in many respects they are alike,) are so far from the truth and so unreliable (as will be shown hereafter) that the whole must be thrown aside as un- worthy of consideration by those who have a practical know- ledge of the subject. To those unacquainted with naval con- struction and repair, their statements would appear of great importance, and hence the necessity of noticing them in detail ; and as the Admiral takes upon himself the important duty of directing what laws should be passed to re-organize the Navy, and carry into eflPect changes in the naval system, based upon his statement, it is but a duty to the country, to Congress, and the honorable Naval Committee, that his statements should be carefully compared with well-known facts touching the case, and the errors pointed out. It will bo noticed that Commander Meade has added to the list of vessels which was given to the Hon. Secretary of the Navy, in the report of the Bureau of Construction and Repair, in November, 1875, his own estimate of the condition of those vessels. What that estimate or opinion is worth, coming from an officer who has no practical knowledge of the work of ship- building or repairing, is left to the consideration of the Honor- able Committee, but to a naval construeior it would not be of the least value, or receive a moment's attention. He says of the Alert, an iron vessel of the smitU class " liimsily built;" when the sizes or s])ecifications are ten per cent, larger than those used in the same class of vessels of the British Navy, and the tost ofj_the materials shows that they are ten per cent, stronger. Some of the vesels which ho says are rotten, or half rotten. 41 nvv ^oiiuil and in i^'ood cunditinn, ami tlic speed ol' not one;, ns given by liimself, is correel as a maxitnuni speed at sea. Admiral Porter gives the following to tlie House jSTavul CVmi- mittee (Mis. Doc. No. 5) as a peace establislimiMit for the United States, and his estimated cost for the same, which will be demonstrated farther on to be far below the cost of the same classes of vessels in England, provided that thev arc built in accordance with what he says on page 414, Misce'.ian'ous Evi- dence, before the Naval Committee: "Third: to build up a navj', commence with most approved models of the most invulnerable vessels now built or building in tlic British Navy." 42 Estimate]) Cost. - ■ >i-3 C ,'-J o a; > a T^ O »a5 ited bles to 5 -Pi .= ■^^2 be-— 1 lis a o 20 Iron-clad monitors of greatest power, to be also rams for home defense, 4,000 tons each, to be built in 12 years .528,000,000 12 iron ships of greatest speed, larger than In- constant class, British navy, 5,000 tons each, 18,000,000 * 12 live-oak or composite ships of great speed, ■ Volage class, British navy, 3,000 tons each... 10,000,000 20 wooden ships of great speed, 1,700 tons each. 10,200,000 10 wooden ships of great speed, 800 tons each, .-5,840,000 10 torpedo vessels, iron, ."iOO tons each 2,550,000 72..590.000 * "Bacchante," 2,029 tons. an iron vessel cased with wood, as is the case with the Volage, approaches the Each 8:«,33;i above class much nearer 12 vessels 10,000,000 in tonnage than theVolago, 1 therefore the cost is also given in connection. 4:^ AS A Pkace Estahlishmknt. r ^ ce :; -^ 5-^=^3 5 5 ceo'— $(U,4G!I,5S0 21,12i),8.i2 14,087,028 15,35^1,820 5,703 120 4,500.000 Lowest possible price for which this class of vessels could be built in this «» country, comi)lete for service, from •e- c: ^ 5 ~ ?- careful estimates made outside the "oc ii o ii V. jj naval service; taking into consid- >- S o o « — ; eration tin; gieat difference in price 2 S "^ "i; 'r:^ = of labor, length of day's labor, iVc, o o S o — = also judging from lowest bids otter- ed recently for naval ship- building 125,844,400 130,72:3,880 1,400,000 10,848,000 1,560,000 18,720,000 currency per day of 8 hours, and dillcrence in value in currency and gold, &c., (the Admiral's estim.ate at 20 tier cent. Is very low; he says, in his evidence on ]5;ige 425, that vessels cost 20 per cent, more in this country than in England,) a careful exami- nation will show th.it the total increase on the first cost of vessels between England and this countrvon account of the above items would he over 50 per coit, instead of 20 per cent., the increase in the price of labor alone be- ing over 100 per cent., and this item enters into the cost of a vessel lan average in all classes) to the extent of about one-half the sum total of the cost of the hull and machinery 128,830 772,980 5 Cost in currency 83,864,900 This class are 5,030 tons ; one of 4,000 tons would cost pro- portionally less, in the same ratio that the tonnage is less ; therefore — 5.030 tons : 4,000 tons :: S3,8(M,900 : 83,073,479, cost in U. S. currency. Number proposed of this class... 20 Cost of the 20 in the table 61,409,580 instead of $28,000,000. The Admiral proposes to build (12) twelve 5,000-ton iron ships of the Inconstant type, but larger by 934 tons at a cost of $1,500,000 each ; the following is the English statement of the Inconstant class, and a vessel of 934 tons greater capacity pro- portionally more. liicdiix/ini/ (Vo.v.v. Coiifract lor hull alone Ci:!S,()()(i ("ontracl for oiifriiios 7l,7'i!i Kstiinatod cost of arinainent and accessories .'il,()UO Incidentals, eoninleting vessels for service, ristof tlie Inconstant in the United .States, currency $1,087,200 •l.OCf! tons: 5.000 tons:: 81,637,200: S2,0I3,2,S0, cost in U. S. currency. Number of vessels proposed 12 Cost of the 12 in the table 21,159,300 instead of $18,000,000. The next on the list arc " 12 live-oak or composite ships, of great speed, of the Volage class, British Navy, to bo of 3,000 tons each." As the Volage is of only 2,322 tons, and those of the United States arc to be of 3,000 tons, (678 tons larger,) it is supposed, of course, that the Admiral knows that the cost of the larger vessel will bo more than that of the smaller in the ratio that the tonnage is greater. Therefore, we will give the English official statement of the co.st of the Yolagc, and determine from that the cost of a vessel G78 tons larger. Volage, 2,322 fans. Contract for liull £8-1,775 Contract for engines 41,37() Incidentals for completing vessel lor service, rigging, out- fit, &c 15,138 Armament, fixtures, &c 17,2u8 158,1!)7 Add 20 p(;r cent, for difference in price of labor, length of da.v"s work, gold and United States cnrrenc.v, *c 31,099 190,191) Cost in United States currency S950,980 2.322 tons : 3,000 tons :: $950,980 : §1,228,050, cost in U. S. currency. Number of vessels proposed 12 Total cost of 12 vessels 14,713,872, instead of $10,000,000, as stated in the table. 46 Tho IJuccliantc, 2,079 tons, is buflt in tlio same manner as the Volage, and approaches much nearer in tonnage to those proposed by the Admiral than the Volage, besides carrying a much heavier batlery ; therefore her cost is also givim in con- nection with the above. JlacclKOitc , 2,(!79 lons!. C'on tract for hull 1 109,200 ( 'ontract for enj^incs 71,000 lucldciilals, estimated cost of, to complete vessel for ser- vice, rigging, outfit, &c 3(;,?00 Armament and fixtures 17,000 Cost in pounds sterling (gold) in England 2.SI.000 Add 20 per cent, for difference in price of labor, &c 40 SOO 280 800 5 Cost in United States in currency SI, 404,000 It will be seen that the Admiral gives the cost of 12 vessels of the Volage type, but each to be 934 tons larger, $10,000,000, or $83o,383 each, in United States currency, while by the aliDvi! it will be stsen, by English official statements, that the liacchante, of 2,079 tons, a composite vessel of the type he proposes, but of 321 tons less capacity than his table states, cost the English Government £234,000, or $1,170,000 in gold, and, adding 20 per cent, as per the Admiral's statement on page 425, Mis. Doc, (" We can build a ship of the kind of the Inconstant almost as cheaply as it can be built in England, with a differ- ence of perhaps 20 per cent., if jiroperly attended to, but not in tho present sy.stem,") the cost will amount to $1,455,000 under the United States, To sum it up in a few words, the Admiral propo.ses to build in this country (by the aid of this board of navy commissioners of " the highest ranks ") a 3,000 ton composite vessel complete for $33G,GG7 (in United States currency) less than the British Government has paid in gold to build in England one of the same type of only 2,679 tons, or, accepting the Admiral's own allowance of 20 per cent, as the amount, the total cost in this country would exceed that in England, the above would be $GG1,g"g7. Tlio next i>ii the list arc '20 WDudcii sliijis of i;;'L'at .sjiced, uf J, 700 tons. There are no vessels buildin2; of this size and class in the English navy, but the nearest approach to thorn is the Turquoise, Sapphire, &c. , of about the same class, but of less tonnage, runnini;- from l,;!l)5to 1,405 tons. '/'iir(/iioi.ii', I)/ .^O^i /oils /"xs. Contrart for hull C.^)!»,()00 t'outract lor engines 2.5,()00 Incidentals, csiimated cost of, to complete vessel readv for service, rigging, outfit, Ac '. 10,800 Armament and fixtures I0,2(;0 105,000 Add 20 per cent, for diderence in price of labor, in number of hours of day's work, gold and U. 8. currency, &(:... 21 000 120,000 5 Cost of vessel of l,.Sy5 ton.s in United Statis currency |6;i0,000 1,395 tons : l.TOO ions : : S(i30.000 to $767,741, cost iu U.S. curren'y. No. of vessels proposed of 1,700 toiis 20 §15,354,820, instead of *lO.'<00,000, as per statement. The new vessels of the Pelican and Cormorant class will corresj)ond nearly to the proposed 800-ton vessels, but slightly less in tonnage. Conti-act for hull t37,0()0 Contract for enirines 11,100 Incidentals, estimated cost of, to C(jmplete vessel ready for service, riijging. outfit, *c S.f'US .'\rmament and accessories 5 2('() 50 lOS Add 20 per cent, for ditterencc in labor, Icngtii of da.v's work, gold and United .States currency, &c 11 Sj^I 71,289 5 < "ost of vcsspl in linilcd Slates ciirrcncj- S356,I45 Number of vessels i)ro|)osed 16 Total costof 1(1 vessels of relican class, instead of «3,S4O,O0O, as per his statement $5,703,120 Lastly come ten torpedo vessels, of 300 tons. As we are un- able to find any English data for anj' of this class, it would seem correct to take the Alarm of our own service as a crite- rion in regard to co.st. Congress aiipropriated $000,000 for the 48 building- of two torpedo houts, wlikdi would be $;JOU,000 for ono. The records of the Navy Deiiiirtiiiotit will show 'Xiiciidituri'S on the Alarm as follows : Construction ilopartnicnt, liiill, fixtures, Ac I2.S1 052 8;^ Enjiincs 120.031 17 Armament and inciilentals to complete vessel ready lor service ' s^ 000 oo J -5 101 00 Since which tliert; has l)cen exi)cnded on liri' in altcra- lions and repairs 11,0nnan navy for 187(l-'77, i^old i(>,i 00,000 Proposed api)ropriut ion Unit d States navy for 1876-'77.. 12,5u0,000 Napier & Sons state that the actual cost of the last vessels built by them for the English Government was over 8 [icr cent, more than the contract price. Admiral Porter gives the following erroneous statements to the Naval Committee as the estimates for the English Navy fur 1871 : Construction c«8 3^3,050 Steam department 1,010,805 Eciuipmenl department ,.... i 80OJ0O A mere glance at the accompanying papers, (marked A, B, C, which are copied exactly) with the exception of adding a column for dollars) from the accountant-general's report to rarliament, (official copies of which can be shown if desired,) 40 will show how litllo doiH-ndonec can hi' |iUu'cd iiiinn tli«! al)ovo statement. The facts in the case are simply those, (and th(» Admiral is correct when he says that their annual expenditures arc (juite regular in amount from year to year,) that for several years the English appropriation for naval purposes has varied from $51,000,000 to over $50,000,000 in gold ; and again, taking the Admiral's statement (on page 425, Miscellaneous Evidence) that it costs 20 per cent, more to huild ships in this country than in England, (which is a very low estimate,) on account of diflcrence between 8 and 10 hours for a day's hibor, the diftorenee in the price of labor and material, and the difference between gold and United States currency, &c., it would make these estimates (adding 20 ]iorcent.) come up to and vary from $61,300,000 and $77,250,000 annually. And it will be seen that about one-third of this immense sum is fur the depart- ments of construction, steam-engineering, ecpiipment, and yards and docks, thus giving to these departments combined from $21,000,000 to $24,000,000 annually, instead of the small sum given in his statement. It will be noticed in tabh' (' that for 187G the amount appropriated for the building up and repair- ing the Navy was as follows : Gohl. Steam machinery and sliips by contract S(i,7(i8,000 New work to steam machinery and r(?pairs to same 2,SI6,2-15 Wases of mechanics, all departnient.s (),(ilS,750 Naval stores, forbuildins^, repairs and outfits (j,;>0(),(!00 22,r,:!i),.5!l.j Add 20 per cent, ^as per the Aduiii-al's statement, iiam- 125) for cost of same in the United States 1,507,91!) 27,047,51-1 This sum, as will be seen by the otHcial statement, which is a part of the same paper, (C,) is for the building, repairing, and outfits of a total force of 248 vessels, many of which arci coal-hulks and storeships, of which only 12:! are reported to Parliament as effective ships for general service. Also, see ulficial statement (B) of the First Lord of the Admiralty to Parliament. 50 Gold. The appropriation for pay and subsistence of officers and men «2.S,807,275 Medical department 795,53() Contingent, adnairalty ofllce, scientific board, martial law, transportation, &C 4,.'587,1!)0 33,010,001 As an example, showing with how little care or study the xVdmiral's statement must have heen prepared, of the amounts given to the different departments of the English Navy, I will give here the actual cost of a vessel like the Inflexible, (taken from official statement of the same,) showing that she cost $507,350 more than the whole appropriation allowed by the Admiral for their department of construction, and about two- thirds of the whole amount he gives, as estimated for the total yearly expenditures of three bureaus, under whose cognizance she would be built. Contract for hull alone C401,000 Contract for engines 120,7.:}O Incidentals to complete vessel for service, rigging-, out- fits, &c., &c 1 20,00" (141,750 Add 20 per cent., as per Admiral's statement, for what would be the increase of cost of ships in the United States 1 28.330 770,080 5 Gold, $3,850,400 This is exclusive of her arnuiment, which is made under cognizance of the War Department, and is estimated at £60,000, or $300,000, gold. 51 CONDITION OF Til K URITIS)! N'AVV. S'l/iiitpsi.s of xhdemcnl ijircn by Ihr Mrxf. Lard of t/tc Admiral/i/, in the lldiisciif Oiimnons. on Marr/i I:?, ISVO, of llw niunbcr (tnd condilion of ri'riain vrxsilx in llcr Mitjculi/'x si'rricr, rrqiiiri'd for cntisiny on tlic different stations, apart from f/iinboalsfor harbor purjwses. be a o 2 s _2 § i cs a p" o ■3 bco a 9 0) "3 ■a a> a bpS, be •3 d o ^ 3 'a ? a bib a •3 > .- o a u 4 10 m i;f 11 5 '^ Gun-vessels... 42 15 .^ 1 10 2 4 r> Gunboats Total 138 *16 1 *6 12 31 I 11 8 15 2 6 " The coluinns uiarkccl willi an asterisk sliuw a total of thirty- one vessels on tin; navy list, which arc rusting away at the bottom of our harbors, a nuisance in the narrow rivers and a source of expense in the men who look after them. " Number of vessels required for the various stations, 84, viz : 40 frigates, corvettes and slooj)S, 41 gunboats, and three other vessels. Number of shi])s available at present for service being 10 short of the number pronounci'd necessary in 18G9. " Eight of the large iroii-clads have been stricken from the navy list, viz: Lord Clyde, Zealous, Ocean, Royal Oak, Royal Sovereign, Caledonia, I'rince Consort, and Eiiterj)risc, as they have been found rotten, and ct)ndemned. The Lord Clyde class have proved ver^' expensive^ from the lirst, and although not ten years old are now worthless. This has been a costlj' experience, and shows the error of building iron-clads with wooden frames. We, too, have learned (like the United States) the greater durability of iron in such ships, in our monitors, and are substituting iron beams and fi-amcs through- out the fle(»t." 52 English naval estimates 1875- 76 and 1876-'77 as voted by Parliament. Pounds sterling. American gold. lS75-'70. 187()-"77. 1875-'76. 187C-'77. Pay and subsistence: Wages for officers, seaman and marines, (a<-tiv(! lis!,).. Half-pay, reserved li;iir-i)ay, and retired pay to naval and marine offlcer.s Military pensions & allow- ances t2,644,062 889.511 681,781 284,529 1,107.781 75,548 188,505 64,644 73,530 197,480 903.608 644.751 1,326,649 1,285,770 18,868 183,916 156,423 15.904 107,324 C2,634,901 888,472 726.136 282,176 1,153,367 76,400 210,230 65,830 76,230 197,480 1,353,600 569,249 1.323,750 1.261,320 20.053 189,820 135,547 15.114 109,194 113,220,310 4,477,555 3,408,905 1,422,645 5,538,905 377,740 942.525 333,220 367,650 9S7,400 4,518,040 3,223.755 6,033,245 6.428,850 94,340 919,580 782,115 79,520 5o6.620 #13,174,520 4,442,360 3 030 680 Civil pensions on Navy list- Victuals for seamen and marines 1,410,8H) 5,766,835 382,000 1,051,150 329,150 381,150 987,400 6,768,000 2,816,245 6,618750 6,306,600 100.265 Victualing yards Coast-guard service and mxr- val reserve Medical : Medical establishments Medicines and medical stores Transportation of men and troops Steam machinery, con- struction, yards and docks and eciuipnicnt: Steam machinery and ships built by contract New work of steam machin- ery and I'cpairs for same... Dockyards and naval yards, wages of mechanics of all departments, &c Naval stores and all materi- al, including timber and iron Marine divisions 919 100 Miscellaneous services or 677.735 Martial law & law chai-ges... Naval scientific branch 75.570 515.970 Total 10,850,584 11.283,872 51.252,920 56,444,360 Number of ships in commission December 1, 1875, including Jiulks, / the 211 - I 18 ) 12 I IS i 1'^ ) 18 I 25 J 12 I 12 14 ins. I do.... 21 Ins.... 9 inches I do... do... ■ 11 Ins.... None.... 4^1 .do... .do... .do... 4Ui .do.. .do., .do., .do., .do.. .llO., .do., .do., .do.. .do, .do, .do., do., Remarks. Turrets. Bark- rigged. Turrets, Ship-rigged. Do. Brig-rigged— composite ship Ship-rigged— composite ship Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Bark -rigged— composite ship Do. Do. Do. Do. In 18G9 and 1870, upon the a]i[)omtment of Mr. Borie as Secretary of the Navy, we virtually had something siniiliir to the proposed board of naval commissioners, for Admiral Por- ter, as is well known, had supreme control of the administra- tion of naval alTairs, and at once organized boards of ad ^37 iiiirals to visit and inspect all the yards and vessols possibln, and to muko recommendations, &c. The records of the De- partment will show that the Navy did not recover from the results brouLfht about under irresponsible orders, given over his own signature. The accompanying list will show the immense amounts ex- pended for repairs alone, under the short term of naval advisers to the Secretary, most of which was n^ado without obtaining the advice of experts, either in or out of the service. The Niagara (which he now says is rotting for want of care) was torn to pieces, at an expense of $50,000 to $60,000, before a single plan had been positively decided upon as to the future, and then left, as she now stands, as a monument of those two eventful years for the Navy. The j^acht America was rejtaired by Admiral Port(M', at a cost of $20,501), apparently for the purpose only of entering a yacht race with his flag flying. She never could serve any useful naval purpose. Twenty-four propellers which had been designed for the ves- sols when built, and had given good results, were taken off, and a nondescript substituted, without consultation with experts, either naval or otherwise, and which men lionversant with those matters knew had been proved, some years before, to be failures, by both the English and French Governments. This was accomplished after an expenditure of nearly $200,000, and the result was, as expected by those practically conversant with such matters, that they had to be all replaced by the old ones, and the others thrown into that unfortunate scrap heap which so distresses the Admiral that he requires a Board of Commis- sioners of high rank to take care of it. Numerous sales of vessels and large amounts of material were made, and the money was expended in naval chimeras like the above, the greatest part of which proved utterly worth- less, and some of a positive injury to the service, and which caused Congress to enact a law that the money accruing from such sales should be turned into the Treasury. 58 At this time (sec Hem. Mr. Stevens's speech in Congress) commenced those serious dissensions between the line and staff corps, by the issuing of the notorious General Order No. 120, which was issued to carry into effect a threat which had been made, (see Mr. Stevens's speech,) in consequence of the staff" declining to support the Board of Admiralty bill, (which, by a strange coincidence, at that time proposed the Vice-Admiral as its head, and now proposes the Admiral, the then Vice-Ad- miral being now the Ailmiral,) introduced into Congress at that time. Finally, the Admiral ventured to give orders over his own signature for the expenditure of money, which the Secretary of the Treasury positively declined to honor. A careful investigation by the Naval Committee of tlie records of the Navy Department for the years 1869 and 1870 will convince them of the inadvisability of a board of naval commissioners, organized and instituted upon any of the va- rious plans proposed. 59 ssels ordered to be repaired under cof/nizunre of the Biiredu of Con- struetion and Repair, from March, 1869, fo October, 1870. Antictam 315, PililiiMi 4, Vamlcrbilt l, Monterey Ill Snowdrop 2. Standish 2. jS'ipsic 52. 8ha\vnuit 71 Pinta Nina 12, Mohongo ;> Kansas". 14() Saco i 149, Chattanooga ! 1, Camanche 20, Galena 15, Roanoke 0, Agamenticus 54, Severn 1:^0, Canonicus Dictator Iowa Monadnoc INIiantonomoh , Triana Fortune Saugus May Flower Mercury Jean Sands Pft'iwinkle I.eyden Palos Yantic Swatara Resaca Phlox (Congress Nantasket Worcester Pennsylvania.. Guerricrc Frolic Sorrel Ticonderoga Shawnee 9 11, 3 1 5 C 38, 15, 91, 3, 14, 184, 107, 134, 1, 159, 12, 3 210, 3, SI2 152 421 370 380 51 S 183 821 9S1 790 ,117 G34 101 •503 614 ,S7() 2(i9 091 ,40;! : ,517 I 57 b I 392 401 207 Oltf 422 895 207 787 919 3U 792 818 193 050 0S2 900 35S SSO 897 257 no 672 963 ,532 Tennessee iii!313,614 Guard i 42.448 Rescue 990 .Vmerica 19.068 Blue Light ' 1,936 Sus(|UChanna 6,283 Powhatan 6.018 Saraiiac 173016 Michigan 3,559 Shenandoah 306,235 Canandaigua 97 551 Cohasset.. 6,911 Franklin 17,085 Niagara 22,186 WMi)ash 97,175 (\)lorado 272,852 Minnesota 97,108 Lackawanna 305,924 Harford 42.897 Brooklyn 510,874 Lancaster ' 132,217 Pensacola | 421,168 79.090 10 513 .233,407 96,690 81,374 27,051 26,424 23.882 261,457 67,401 62 057 133,797 15.200 16,754 1 17,420 6,911 2,278 27.339 10,419 16.152 75,122 2,494 24,814 Naragansetl Iro(iuois W.yoining Pawnee Mohican Dacotah Seminole Saginaw Ossipee VVacIuuett .Inniata Constellation .. Saratoga t'yane St. Mary's Dale Ohio Independence. Potomac Savannah Sabine St. Lawrence... Supply 61 LETTER No. 5. It is not the part of .statesuuuiship to strike down and destroy an industry capal)le of giving employment to thousands of our media nics and working people, and in which our reputation as a commercial nation is so largely involved. Statesmanship would encourage, ex- tend, and protect it by all proper means. We refer particularly to iron shipbuilding, which is still in its in- fancy in this country ; and to the adoption of such new and improved machinery as will enable us not only to cope with other nations, but to regain if possible the place our mercantile marine held but a few years ago. And yet this striking down and destroying policy is the one Congress has pursued towards our shipbuilding and maritime interests for a long time. To say that the people of this country have ceased to look to Congress for statesmanship is saying only what is true. Instead of taking broad views and generous action in regard to our mercantile marine. Congress has folded its arms and looked on with indifference while our ocean carrying trade has passed almost entirely out of our hands and into those of foreigners. In truth its sympathies as well as its legislation have been in the interest and for the benefit of foreigners. It is not creditable to us as a great, pro- gressive, commercial nation that what mercantile marine we have is nearly all confined to coastwise and river trade, and that among all the great steamship lines doing the carrying trade between our ports and Europe, we loolc in vain for the American flag. This, too, in face of the fact that less than twenty years ago we were 62 acknowledged to have tlie most skillful shipbuilders, their models and work being admired the world over. Our captains were also famous for their skill and ex- perience. There must be some great governing cause for all this ; and the quicker we find where and what it is, and apply the proper remedy, the better. We are will- ing to make due allowance for what the war did to damage our commerce on the ocean ; but. we must go beyond that, to unwise, capricious, and dangerous legisla- tion, for the real cause. The war ended more than ten years ago, and still a majority of our shipyards remain de- serted, while many of our workshops are struggling for an existence. In New York, workshops that were the most prominent a few years ago — the Novelty, the Allaire, and the Neptune — have gone out of exis- tence. A stable now marks the spot where the great Novelty works stood. Let us go back a few years and contrast the conduct of the English Government in support of the Cunard line with the treatment of the Collins line by ours. The brothers Edward, Samuel, and Joseph Cunard, were re- markable for their enterprise and public spirit. Joseph, the youngest, did perhaps the most extensive timber and deal trade on this continent, at Miramachi, New Bruns- wick, but was not successful. Edward and Samuel were extensively engaged in shipping at Halifax, acted for many years as the North American agents of the old East India Company, and through that means amassed what was then considered a large fortune. Samuel was always the progressive master-spirit of the house ; and if we mistake not, fre- 63 (luently engaged iu enterprises his elder brother Edward took but little interest in ; to be brief, Edward retired with his fortune, and Samuel founded tiie line of steamships which now bears his name. It was his con- ception and adoption, he used to say. Of cours3 he had to meet and overcome all sorts of obstacles — the opposi- tion of certain high officials in the British Admiralty Board, and the distrust of banking institutions being the most serious. That was in 1839. It is said iMr. Cunard, familiarly known as Sam Cunard, built the Unicorn, (pioneer ship,) and the Acadia entirely with his own money. Be this as it may, in less than three years, and when only four ships wcu'c afloat, Mr. Cunard had not only all his available means locked u]) in the line, but was so deeply involved, financially, that it was feared the line would be a hopeless failure. Friends who had before placed confidence in his judgment shook their heads doubtingly, and the banks, some of which he had exercised a controlling influence over a short time before, closed their vaults to him. More than that, importuning creditors, English as well as colonial, be- gan to press their claims, and even resort to the courts for their collection. Mr. Cunard proceeded to Enghind, to meet his friends as well as his (.'reditors, make a statement of his affiiirs, and ask for time. He met, however, with slender en- couragement. In short, several of his creditors took measures for his arrest for debt ; this so disheartened him that he determined to elude the sherift", who entered the agent's office by one door as Mr. Cunard, in the garb of a sailor, passed out of another, and that night 64 sailed for Halifax on one of his own steamers. He knew that if he allowed himself to be arrested it would get noised abroad, increase his difficulties, and perhaps destroy the line. The only alternative was to place his business in the hands of friends who still had faith in the ultimate success of the enterprise. There were large minds in Parliament at that day. The small minds and dry rot on the matter referred to were confined to the fine old Admirals of the " British Board of Admiralty." Parliament came promptly and generously forward, and rescued the Cunard line from pending destruction, saved it to the country and com- merce, but it could not relieve Mr. Cunard of his finan- cial troubles. This prompt action of Parliament afforded another proof of the care with which England nurtures and protects her commerce, and forecasts the results. We all know and appreciate what the Cunard line has done for England and her commerce. Its success has prompted other Governments to encourage and build up similar enterprises, until we have not less than fourteen lines of ocean steamers sailing between New York and European ports, all doing a profitable business ; but not one of them carrying the American flag. Collins was not unlike Samuel Cunard. In energy and enterprise he was his equal ; in forecast, his superior ; both were busy, bustling men, generous-hearted, open- handed, and progressive in advance of their time. Col- lins had successfully established a line of packet ships, famous for their beauty and speed. But he saw very clearly that the days of packet ships were passing away, and that the steady advances England was making in 65 establishiug and luaiutaining her steamship lines must secure to her the eoninierce and carrying trade of the ocean unless proper measures were taken to secure our rightful share of it. AH our previous attempts to establish steamship lines on the ocean had ended in fail- ure. The Hermann, the Franklin, the Washington, the Humboldt and other ships, had ended their short career in disaster. We were at faidt everywhere, 'riiere was no unity of design or action between the ship-builder and the engineer. The hulls of these ships were a clumsy con- glomeration of lines; the whole being unsightly and de- fective. The engines were even worse, and more defective than the hulls. They were crude in design, of insufficient power; and a proof that nuirine-engine building was in its intiiucy in this country, and that our engineers had not grasped the true;jecret of their profession. It, indeed, looked as if both ship-builder and engineer re- garded it as of much more importance to spec\date on theories and experiments, one independent of the other, than to adopt well-tested improvements, as the English and .Scotch were doing. ]\Ir. Collins made a commendable effort to profit by these errors and give the country something that would successfully compete with the Cunard line. His friends came generously forward, and New York merchants, with that public spirit which has always characterized them, aided him cheerfully, and the result was four of the most magnificent steamships afloat at that time. Their defects were confined to their engines ; but from the very outset Mr. Collins found himself hampered by Congress. What it did for him one year it would undo the 9 6G next. Its vacillatiug iind uncertaiu action was more dam- aging than all else. When he wanted the ear and action of Congress most, he could only reach it through a cordon of hungry lobbyists, whose po(;kets he had to fill with gold. Congress, too, in its short-sighted legislation, in- sisted on giving the ships a divided command; that is, they must have both a uaval and a civilian captain, the former to look after the interests of the Government and make himself disagreeable generally. These Navy captains, as they were called, were generally young, airy, and inexperienced lieutenants, who differed with the civilian ca})tain in everything, even to the attention thtiy should pay to lady passengers, and claimed a pre- rogative in view' of rank. Few of them had any sym- pathy with the enterprise, or felt any pride in their own position. We remember one of these naval heroes who was so much given to the "lady part" of his duties, and so little to the navigation of the ship, that he found himself inside of Cape Cod, when his destination was New York. In fine, your gold-embroidered naval cap- tain was an impediment it was found necessary to get rid of AVhen the day of trouble to the Collins line came, and when wise and generous action on the part of Con- gress was needed most, Congress not oidy withdrew its par- simonious aid, but virtually abandoned it. Congress did not even deal justly by the line, for it withheld money due and honestly earned for carrying the mail. To our discredit as a nation, the Collins line went down. It is idle to talk about bad and extravagant management ; of the loss of the Arctic and Pacific ; and the ruin of 67 tlie Adriatic through ]\Ir. Eiigiueer .\.llcu, aud his plug- valve. Euglishincu did uot get alarmed aud abandon the Cunard line, because through error of judgment the Cokunbia was lost, aud two or more of their ships were run ashore on the coast of Newfoundland. The most extensive line of steamships established by Englishmen, magniticent in all its surroundings, was the AVest India aud South American. Its early history was conspicuous for disasters and inefficient management. We believe we are right iu stating that the company lost either six or seven of its fine ships in less thau three years. Still Parliament did not abandon the line, uor did Englishmen get alarmed at their losses. The company brought a different and more experienced class of cap- tains into their service, and in the end succeeded. That line is to-day carrying to England a large portion of the trade which several years ago Boston, New York and Baltimore, enjoyed. So much for what our short- sighted policy has done to diminish our commerce. We might also refer with feelings of pride to the splendid line (British) of steamers established by Mr. Wainwright, ou the Pacific, between I'anama, Callao, Valparaiso, and other ports. This line is to-day one of the most successful afloat. Wainwright was an Amer- ican, who, after making several unsuccessful attempts to enlist our Government and our capitalists in his enter- prise, proceeded to London, and found both Englishmen and the English Government ready to aid him. Aud now, after a lapse of more than thirty years of experiment and failure iu ocean steamships, we have a uumber of High Old Salts of the American Navy, 68 with Adniinil Porter at their head, muddliug the brains and confoundiDg the minds of a Committee of Congress by advocating wliat has long since been discarded by other nations as worthless. Not content with this, they increase the confusion by opposing the very inventions the foremost nations of Europe have tested and adopted, being alike safe and economical, as well as the best calculated to ensure success. Their testimony, so derog- atory to the compound engine, is the most forcible ex- ample of this. They told the Committee with charming simplicity, and the Committee, with refreshing credulity, believed all they said, that the compound engine was an entirely new thing, an experiment, and very dangerous. Let us see what really are the facts : " It is no new thing for this Bureau to be tried by the opin- ions and prejudices of its enemies rather than by a just com- parison of facts," says Engvneer-in-Chief Wood. -'^ * * " The compound engine which is now used extensively, but by no means exclusively, in our navy, was not a new thing when we began to build them. The firm of John Elder & Co., the famous engine builders, began their manufacture in 1854 ; and up to 1871, had put them in one hundred and seven (107) ships." Admiral Porter, and other High Old Salts, whose fears have been excited at the thought of being ex- ploded by one of these compound machines, would do well to make a note of this. We are indebted to En- gineer-in-Chief Wood for a copy of a report made by the Lords of the British Admiralty, to Parliament, in 1872 ; and in which the merits of this " very dangerous invention " are vei-y clearly discussed. We will make a (59 few extracts from it, for the especial benefit of Admiral Porter and other first-class grumblers. On page eleven, the Lords of the British Admiralty, say : " Its use has become very general in the mercantile marine, and the weight of evidence in favor of the large economy of fuel thereby gained, is to our minds overwhelming and con- clusive. * * * "We beg, therefore, to recommend that the use of compound engines may bo generally adapted in ships of war hereafter to be constructed, and applied whenever it can be done with due regard to economy and to the convenience of the service to those already built." The above, it must remembered, is the opinion of a Board of High Old British Admirals, certain malicious writers will insist is seriously afflicted with dry rot. On page 14, same report, we find that William Pierce, Esq., one of the firm of .John ]^]l(ler & Co., says : " I prefer compound engines. Their extra weight, when engines and boilers are taken together, is inconsiderable ; but the saving of fuel is 50 per cent. Thej' require no more space, and can be equallj' well protected." Again he says, page 17 : " There is certain!}" a great advantage in using them." E. J. Reed, Esq., late Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy testifies, (same report :) " Compound engines are more economical than the old type." On page 19, Vice Admiral Sir Robert Spencer Rob- inson, late Controller of the Navy, says : " Compound engines have been lately tried which use only 1.0 !lis. of coal per indicated horse power per hour, against 3.") !lis. used by ordinary engines. T intended before leaving 70 office to rc"CM)mmoiuI their general iuloption, and trust that course will he taki^n." Oil paii'o 225, Kavenliill, Hudson & Co., famous cn- giue builders, state : " The dill'erenee in the consumption of fuel hetween the best known type of compound engine, carrjing sixty pounds pres- sure, and the ordinary form of surface condensing engine of the best type used in the British Navy, is stated to be, from the results of experiments, 20 per cent." The Laird Brothers, so well known as the builders of rebel cruisers, say, on page 226 : " Our opinion is that the difference in the consumption of fuel in the Intcst form of compotmd enc/ines, such as made by us for H. M. ship Briton, and the ordinary form of surface condensing engines used in the British Navy is in proportion of 2: 3.5." On page 227, P. Deuney, Esq., says : " The difference in consumption of fuel, per indicated horse power, may be assumed as 2 lbs. for tlie compound against 3 lbs. for the ordinary form of engines." On page 228, Humphreys, Tennant & Co., say: " H. M. ship Monarch, (simple engine,) 2.7 lbs. of coal per I. P. per H., and H. M. ship Tenedore, (compound engines) 2.3 lbs. of coal per I. P." We have Mr. Elder again, on page 229: " From our knowledge of such engines as are used in the merchant service we consider that the consumption of fuel be- tween the best type of compound engines, and the best type of ordinary surface condensing engines is in favor o'f the former in proportion of two to three." These extracts are enough for all practical purposes, 71 and with iikjii disposed to be conviuced of their errors should settle the question. The fiict that so conserva- tive and well-managed a line as the Cunard, w-hich em- ploys the best engineering talent, and adapts only what has been thoroughly tested should replace its old type of engine with the compound, would remove any doubts we mio-ht have as to the value of its merits. LETTER No. 6. We will prcliu'c these i'ew concliuliii^' remarks, as the preachers put it, by saying that fine old admirals, with sixteen thousand (h)llars a year pay, nothing to do, and no end to prize money to ensure patriotism and sustain dignity, were luxuries neither contemplated or provided for by the simple-miuded tiitliers of the Republic. They are costly ornaments becpieathed to us by a civil war and tlu! Kepublican party. The admirals, however, are a reality ; and we must make the best we can of them, whether it be for the nation's amusement or instruction. But we do not like to have it said of us that we are the most servile of imitators ; that if we do not bow^ be- fore crowns we ai'e expert copyists of rank. AV^e must take good care of our Admiral, and jnake him happy — if W'e can. When a school-boy, a fidl- feathei-ed and fierce old admiral was an object we re- garded with fear and trembling. We have got over that ; and indeed come to regard admirals as common mortals. Our recollection of our [)reseut Clreat American Admiral i-xteuds back more than a ipiarter of a century. He was PLAIN rAl'TAIN DAVID then, and comnuxnded the steamer (xeorgia, of the Bloc line. He was our admiration then, as he is our admira- tion now. In return for this, he has alibrdcd us no end of amusement. Even then, his mind was of a breezy turn, and his hands given to the use of foolscap. We have known him engage in the business of manufactur- ing storms with himself as the centre — of blowing. Wc 10 74 do not, luciin to say by this that, like some of oui- groat generals, he was given to blowing his own trumpet. That w^as an accomplishment Ca})tain David deserved credit for. Bloo's ships wore famous for poor seaman- ship and the amount of gold endiroidery their officers wore. The company was under contract with the Gov- ernment to carry the mails Ix'tween New York and As- jiinwall, and to touch at Charleston, Savannah, and Havana, to deliver and receive mails and passengers. At Charleston and Savannah they were to come inside the bars, meet tugs or small steamers sent down to meet them, the object being to make the exchange in smooth water. Other captains of th(> line complied cheerfully, and discharged the duty satisfactorily. Captain David was nearly always in a state of rebellion; now with the com})any, now with the (Ttovernnient, then with the passengers, liebellion was his nornuil condition. Those ugly-looking bars, with the breaking, seething waters, used to distress Captain David. Now there would not be water enough for him to sound his way over — then the sea would run too high to make the atteinjit to cross entirely safe. We may say truly that Captain David was nearly always in a dilemma. Then he had a mild-mannered but very wicked way of dumping, outside of the bar, his passengers and mails into fishing-smacks or any sort of craft he could come within hailing distance of, and leave them to make the rest of the voyage in their own way. Of course he would take care of Captain David, and they must take care of themselves. Outgoing passen- gers and mails must wait for the next ship. Captain David did'nt care. 75 This style of subjectiug passengers to sufleriug and danger, so peculiar to Captain David, was not stij)ulated for in the contract, and became a subject of complaint and I'emonstrance. It was a mild-mannered way Captain David had of letting ordinary peojdi; know he would do as he d — d pleased. Weil, we lost sight of our breezy mariner for several years, and began to cast about for some one to admire- Good old Baron Munchausen, the companion of our youth, was no longer available. Don Quixote had amused and instructed us, and, indeed, shown us what a true Christian could do for his fellow mortals. Our long since departed and much lamented friend (General Quattlebaum (he of South Carolina) no longer plagued us with his regiment of fire-eaters, every man with a coffin on his back, nor threatened to hang us to a pal- metto tree because we spelled the last syllable of his name without an a. With all these illustrious characters passed away, and no longer available, what were we to do? We had passed suddenly from peace and all its bless- ings into a great civil war and all its horrors — from commodores to High Old Admirals. We waked up one calm autumn morning in October, 18()2, to find our breezy and long-lost accjuaintance the terror of the Mississippi, in command at ^Nltnind City, and trans- formed into a full-feathered admii'al, with buttons to correspond. Yes, he was in all his glory and making things lively at MOUND CITY. He was the United States, Mound City, the Navy, Sec- retary of the Navy, and Board of Admiralty — all rolled 76 into one. He was a terror to rebels, uutl always kej)t his patriotism at high pressure ; and his name aud fame resounded over the valley where the great Mississippi rolls. Indeed, he rarely sipped his coffee of a morning without counting on the tips of his fingers the number of rebels he would send to their long homes before sun- set. We congratulated ourselves on the Admiral's con- solidation at Mound City ; that he had the Treasury of the United States in his locker, and was under full sail. He was the only man in the country who knew all about a gunboat, and also how a first-class fighting navy could be got up. He told us just to wait a little while and he would shOAv us a fleet of gunboats, iron and tin clad, that would astonish us. So^ we waited patiently and looked forward for something that would take the shine out of your ocean navy. The Admiral was right. He did astonish us with a fleet of ten or a dozen of the oddest-looking water craft ever seen on the Mississippi or any other river. It re- quired rare and original genius to invent anything so grotesque.' That ancient mariner, Noah, was not a rec- ognized shipbuilder, but his ark was a beauty of model compared with these. 81ii Ho Am Ti, the first emperor of China, invented and caused the first junk to be built and sent to Foo Choo. If we err, General Sherman, who has both Antediluvian and Mongolian history at his tongue's end, can correct us. It at once occurred to us that the Admiral had been studying INIullett as an arch- itect, and Noah and Shi Ho Am Ti as shipbuilders. We say this because nearly all the Admiral's gunboats Avere Mansard-roofed, whil(> their hulls were a compro- 77 mise between llie ark and junk. Some ot" them were lean in the centre and big at both ends. Von eonhbi't tell which end was bow and which stern. In short, they were a good deal like Irving's galiot, and would go aliead one way just as well as another. There was a craft, too, of the Admiral's gunboat order, that looked like a bateau, with an elongated bake oven on her deck* We were to have, the Admiral intimated, some fierce uaval eugagemeuts between the rebels and these gun- boats, something in the way of warfares that would make our very hair stand. It was about this time that we discovertid, as did Mr. Secretary Welles, that the Admiral was a great PR ACTIO A I. JOKE It. We say joker, because our good Cxrandfather NV^elles dis- covered the Admiral, almost daily, making him the victim of a series of jokes that would end in costing the (government niillious of dollars. These jokes came in the shape of requisitions, and came so fast that Grand- father Welles held up his hands in despair and proclaimed Admiral I). D. Porter the most costly luxury the (Jov- ernment had ever been compelled to indulge in. It was all for Mound City and the Admiral's nondescript in- land navy, to be spent by the Admiral pretty much as he (1 d please ; and had we not the Admiral's word for it that he was a severe economist? There was a time w'hen it looked as if the Treasury of the United .States would have to be drained to keep Mound City and Admiral Porter supplied with funds ; but, then, this Mound City business was a huge joke. The Admiral asks us to accept him as an economist, and yet we veutui-e to assert that iiowhere in the liistory of our Navy can another case be found in which so much money in so short a space of time was spent or squan- dered, and with such poverty of result, as was done at Mound City, under the administration of the Admiral. But, then, it was all a joke, cracked at Grandfather Welles' expense. On February 1st, 1863, we have the Admiral afloat again, and in the roll of a modern Christian statesman. He is on the Yazoo rivei-, and orders Colonel Ellett to proceed to Vicksburg, and destroy a rebel steamer. It occurred to us at the time that this was a very remarka- ble order coming from an officer wliose Government held that the war should be (tarried on after the manner of Christians. I^isten to what the Admiral says, but save your blushes : " It will not be part of your duty to save the lives of those on board. They must look out for them- selves ; and may think themselves lucky if they do not meet the same fate meted out to the Harriett Lane." * * * He tells him, also, to " shout ' Harriet Lane' into the cars of the rcl)els," as they are going down. There is something exquisitely fiendish about this. To tell the honest truth he ordered I^llett to copy the very bad example set by some of our missionary-eating brothers of the I'iji Islands. And then, here is where the finer touches of his humanity are displayed : " If you can fire turpentine balls (the Chinee conies in here) from your bow field- pieces, into the light upper works, it will make a fine finish to the sinking part." That was virtually tell- ing; the brave Ellett that if he could not finish his vie- 79 liins hy (Irowning- hv could mast ihrm to (K^alli with blazing turpentine balls. We are charitable enough to believe that the Admiral intended this only as a joke ; lliat unihM- tlu> I)etter pi-oiuptings ot his head and heart he would prefer tilling the stomachs of his "[jrisoners with duff and pea soup to roasting them to death with tur- pentine balls. Your Chinaman would have caught his enemy first, and then crammed the turpentine ball down his throat. 81 LETTER No. 7. Our voyage has been much louger than wo intended at the outset, and we find ourself drifted into the Red River Expedition, where we find the Navy and Admiral Porter, both extensively illuminated. Illuniinating himself is a w'eakness with the Admiral. The true history of our military and naval expedi- tion into the Red River country, whenever written, will make very interesting reading, though it will undoubt- edly develoji many things not flattering to our military or political morality. That expedition was essentially a cotton-picking and cotton-stealing enterprise, conceived by cunning and characterless speculators at Washington, and adopted by the Government under a sentimental and mistaken notion of duty. The first grave mistake made was in appointing General Banks to command the expedition. Banks was not skilled in the arts of ac- cumulation. Butler was in every way suited to the business ; and it was a great oversight in the Govern- ment not to have given him the command. With Ad- miral Porter in command of the Navy and Butler the army those two hundred thousand bales of cotton, w'e were told by the cunning speculators at Washington, the rebels had scattered around loose over that country, and out of which millions of dollars could be mani|)a- lated, w^ould have come to the front as if by some magic influence, and Avould also have been labeled for prize money. It would not have mattered with these lively accumulators of cotton that we were making war on our 11 82 own people, or that the booty they got possession of was private property. Prize money was the bane of the Navy, the great impelling motive with the Admiral, and the great medium of demoralization with the army. Indeed, this expedition showed to what base uses the Army and Navy of the United States could be put. That soldiers like Franklin and Emory, men who re- tained some pride in their profession, became disgusted with the enterprise and desired to withdraw from it, is not surprising. There was nothing for the honest sol- dier to do. Banks was not to blame for the disgraceful failure. No general was ever placed in such an anomalous or embarrassing position. He had — Cotton thieves in the front of him, Cotton thieves in the rear of him, Cotton thieves on the right of him, Cotton thieves on the left of him, Growling and scheming. If he got the best of the cotton thieves one day he was sure to find himself surrounded by military difficulties the next. It is true, Mr. Lincoln, in his innocence, sent Banks to command the army when the field was exactly suited to Butler's genius. Banks, it was true, was in command, but had little or no control over his forces. One of his generals rej^orted to (Irant, another to Sher- man, and still another to the Secretary of War, or, if more convenient, to Mr. Lincoln. An entirely new method of enforcing discipline had been adopted, which brought joy to the hearts of the cotton thieves. General Steel, who had a single eye to business, snap- ped his fingers at Banks, marched into another part of ^ 83 the country with liis coniinaiid, and went somewhat ex- tensively into the business ofaceumuhiting cotton on his own account. The gushing Porter had been ordered to co-operate witli Banks, but woukl not do anything of the kind. The idea of so breezy an Admiral taking ad- vice on nautical allairs from an army officer, was to him supremely ridiculous. He would as soon think of telling all he knew before a Committee of Congress. According to our fine old Admiral, the Navy didn't care a d d for the Army. And if we may credit all that has been written and said on the subject, there was no love lost on either side. Here the mercurial Sherman appears ; and, as if to make confusion more confused, ordered General Andrew Jackson Smith, who was kindly disposed towards Banks, and had previously supported him cheerfully, to "rej^wrt, not to Banlcs, hut Admiral D. D. Porter, the fast friend of the Army of the Tennessee." O ! Sherman. But then it was just like Sherman. The absurdity would have done credit to Don (Quixote. The only wonder is that Sher- man, in one of his capricious moods, had not told the gushing Porter, the " fast friend of the Army of the Tennessee," to assume command of both Army and Navy ; and as a climax to the absurdity, ordered Banks to report to him. But how General Andrew Jackson Smith (on shore) was to report his military achievements to an admiral afloat, who didn't want advice on " nauti- cal affairs " from military men, and who had gone several hundred miles up the river beyond reach of the army — where not even his'own trumpet could be heard — General Sherman does not tell us. Banks soon learned to his 84 cost that rebels and cottou thieves were not the only enemies he would have to fight. West Point, and the Annapolis Academy were equally formidable, and even less reasoning. It soon became apparent, too, that the rebels were not disposed either to be whipped without a struggle, or have their cotton taken from them by force. The Army, or rather General Banks, then proposed to do the square thing by them. He proposed a sort of truck-and-dieker arrangement, by which a penny would be turned on both sides. That is, the enemy, or rebel, was to bring his cotton, sugar, and molasses, into our camp, in a Christian-like way, and we would hold it for him in trust, or sell it for him on commission. Nothing could be fairer in a trade. Brother Jonathan said. He wanted to oblige them, anyhow ; and if it was not satisfactory we would swap commodities, they giving us cotton, sugai', and molasses, and we giving them tea, coffee, calicoes, and prayer books. If they were very hard up we would throw in a few greenbacks. The arrange- ment was not strictly in accordance with the common usages of war, but there was a heap of humanity in it, and it began working satisfactorily. Just as we were beginning to smoke the pipe of peace with our erring brothers; just as they were bringing in their commodities to exchange with us, on a satisfactory basis, our breezy Admiral interposed an obstacle that put an end to it, and made 'enemies of men disposed to be friendly. Hoisting his flag and snapping his fingers at the army, the Admiral, with his fleet of iron-clads^ pro- ceeded up the river, and began accumulating cotton 85 iudiscriiuinatcly. His sailors were soinctiiucs sent miles inland to bring oft' bales the army had really captured. This so exasperated the enemy that he began destroying his cotton rather than have it taken away from him in such a mild-mannered way and made subject of prize to the Navy. We have frequently heard innocent persons ask what could have prompted so experienced an Admiral to im- peril his fleet by taking it nearly five hundred miles up a narrow, tortuous, and treacherous river, full of snags, stumps, falls, shoals, and ledges? The answer may be found in the impelling force of prize money made from cotton. The cotton speculators told him there was a paradise filled with cotton bales at the head of that treacherous stream, and the Admiral resolved to explore that paradise if he lost his fleet. How near he came losing that fleet we all know. We also know how plaintively he called upon the army he had only a few weeks before re- fused to co-operate with, to save him. Eiit the Admiral got the cotton, and held on to it. QUESTION OF VERACITY. . In this connection General Banks says, with much force of reasoning : " Had it been left to my discretion I should have reluctantly undertaken, in a campaign requiring but eight or ten light- draught gunboats, to force twenty heavy iron-clads 490 miles up a river proverbially as treacherous as the rebels who defended it, and which had given notice of its ciiaracter by steadily falling when, as the Admiral admits, all other rivers were booming." 86 Booming is good. But if the indignant general had thoroughly understood the attractive force of prize money he would not have made this severe charge against our venerable Admiral's judgment as a navigator. And just here let us say that we regard it as very unkind of General Banks to be continually putting the Admiral's veracity in question. Here are one or two specimens of the way he does it : "Admiral Porter says, that ' All my vessels navigated the river to Grand Ecore with ease, and with some of them I reached Springfield Landing, the place designated to meet the army, -x- * * My part was successfully accomplished ; the failure of the army to proceed, and the retreat to Grand Ecore, left me almost at the mercy of the enemy.' The records of the campaign do not at all support the reckless and fiery ardor of this statement. The fleet did not reach the ' place appointed' until two full days after the first decisive battle with the enemy." This is a case where the Admiral's account of the " rebellion," which he has solemnly promised to write for the especial benefit of the future historian, and which we have been waiting for with nervous anxiety, would be a little off color. Banks proceeds : " The Admiral occupied four days in moving one hundred and four miles, on what he calls ' a rising river,' with ' good water,' to the place appointed. General T. Kirby Smith states that the fleet made twenty miles on the 7th, fifty-seven miles on the 8th, eighteen miles on the 9th, and nine miles on the 10th of April." It is evident from this that the Admiral was for once afraid of his steam, and moved under a very low pres- 87 sure. Banks shouUl liave known tliat sailors have treacherous memories, as well as nimble tongues, with which they so featly spin their yarns. He should, in all kindness, have taken a more charitable view of the Admiral's mistake, knowing, as every oflicer of the Navy (including the Marines) does, that ho would not know- ingly tell an untruth. Again, the indignant Banks says : " I feel it to be a soloiiin duty to say, in this official and formal manner, that Admiral Porter's published official state- ments relating to the Ked Kiver campaign are at variance with the truth, of which there are many thousand living witnesses, and do foul injustice [the italics are ours] to the officers and soldiers of the army, living and dead, to whom the Navy De- partment owes exclusively the honor and preservation of its fleet." .SLANDEROUS .STORIES — AN J) PICTURES. This is strong language, and should it chance to meet the eye of that future historian for whose guide the venerable Admiral promises to write his book, there is small doubt as to what category he will place the Admiral in as an authority. The question has been asked, " What was the Admiral doing these four long days ? " Malicious persons have answered it by charging that he was prospecting for cotton, with millions of prize money in perspective. There is no accounting for what malicious people will say in war times. That pictur(! of the Admiral, in all his gold embroidery and feathers, following close at the heels of the Army, with a marking pot and l)rush in his hand, and attaching the Navy's symbol to all the cotton and sugar captured by the army. and claiming it as subject of prize, was very likely an offspring of the same malicious source. Another ma- licious wit, disappointed because he was not permitted to go beyond our lines and steal cotton, drew a picture of the Admiral, twelve miles away from the river, driv- ing his own six-mule team, laden with cotton bales, and followed by a troop of mounted sailors, with that ancient weapon, the cutlass, drawn. We can, in all sincerity, assure our readers that that picture was a freak of the imagination and nothing more. The idea of Admiral Porter mounting his sailors is too absurd for thoughtful gonsideration. Of the same kind, and from the same soui'ce, came the story that our versatile and venerable Admiral had pocketed over a million of dollars of prize money made from cotton which really had been captured by the Army and belonged to the Government. As long as prize laws are on the statute books we do not object to any amount of prize money the Admiral may make legitimately ; but we would suggest that when the pursuit of it puts his fleet in peril, brings the honor of his Government in question, subjects his profes- sion to unfavorable criticism, and demoralizes his com- mand, the law of prize to any one branch of die service may safely be repealed. It has several times occurred to us while reading the accounts of that remarkable expedition on the Ked River, and more particularly the part our Navy took in it, that our venerable Admiral had been a careful reader of a book entitled " The Sailors of England under the Tudors," wherein the naval exploits of that lively old British mariner, Drake, are graphically described. -so The most liLsciujitiug part of that book is wlicre Drake's little aeeumulatiiig exploits along the " Spanish Main " are pictured. Drake's exj)loits on tlu' " Spanish .Main," and Porter's exploits on the Red River, arealike and unlike. Financially they arealike. IMorally, and politically they are unlike. Spain was at ])eace with England at that time ; and yet Drake, always taking the responsibility for tailnre or success, niade war on Spain's colonies. Porter made war on our own people, carried away their property, and whatever he failed in, wanted to shift the responsibility on some one else. Di'ake was true to his sovereign, and an admirer of kings and queens — queens especially. Porter, our venerable Admiral, was truly loyal, and a great Re- publican. Drake sailed into the monasteries, convents, and cathedrals, captured and carried off their sacred images, made of gold and silver, and had them smelted into money, and all in contempt of the law of nations. But Drake regarded as sacred the property of his own countrymen residing in the field of his depredations. In a word, he never made war on his own countrymen. It was to his credit, buchaneer as he was, that he pro- tected them wherever he found them. The most re- marka])le trait of his character was his intense love of his own countrymen, and his detestation of foreigners — ■ Spaniards particularly. If Admiral I'orter had any love, it was for himself alone. He was a great Re- publican, truly loyal, and, what is more, truly selfish. He made war, not on foreigners, but on Americans like himself, and he invaded their homes, and carried away their property, as if they had no rights he was bound te r2 90 respect. The bold Drake was a generous old salt who, having despoiled churches and monasteries and dis- ])layed criminal contempt for the mother church, carried his plunder to England, and divided it with the good Elizabeth. That was the way he obtained forgiveness for his crimes, was received into the church militant, and took a high seat for himself and his descendants among the heroes of the realm. Our High Old Admiral took his Red River accumulations into the prize court, and we never heard of his sharing them with the good Lincoln, or any one else. 91 LETTER No.18. The great sensational ieature of the naval liistory of the Red River expedition was the number of tierce na- val engagements fought by Admiral Porter's fleet. Ac- cording to the Admiral, there was nothing in history to compare with them. The glowing accounts of them sent by the Admiral so astonished and delighted Grand- father AVelles that, for a time at least, he would have sworn by his beard that we had not only a fighting Navy, but an Admiral who knew how to fight it. He could not be mistaken, he thought, and yet it occurred to him one morning, after rubbing his spectacles and scanning over two or three, or perhaps a dozen, of the Admiral's glowing dispatches, that a stream of the character of the Red River would not afford room for a great naval engagement, and that a naval engagement between in- fantry on shore and iron-clads afloat could not be very bloody. In short, he very soon found that these des- perate naval engagements, when viewed in the light of truth, dwindled down into very harndess affairs — except to the people, whose cotton the Admiral had begun to accumulate. One of the fiercest of these naval engagements, so it is stated, was fought for two long hours, and in a thick fog. ^Nlarry, but when the fog lifted it was found that the fleet had been expending its valor and its ammuni- tion on a steep clay bluff, the summit of which was crowned with a clump of scraggy trees, which the Ad- miral had mistaken for the " enemy in force." The 92 Admiral also mistook the echo of his own gnus for the enemy's firing, and answered gun for gun. We do not vouch for the truth of this story, but give it for what it is worth, as Cerveutes did the story of Don Quixote's fight with the windmill, to which it bears some resem- blance. We remember to have seen a very sensible order is- sued by an officer in command of one of the Admiral's gunboats, deprecating the great waste of ammunition, and enjoining that hereafter the gunners must fire only when they saw the enemy. This very sensible order was not intended as a reflection on the Admiral, who was continually seeing the enemy in force, and engaging him in battle. On several occasions, however, it turned out that the " enemy in force " consisted of a few old men and boys, armed with rifles and shot guns, who had come to seek revenge of the Admiral for accumulating their cotton. Once the Admiral met a general " in force," (Green by name,) and in the combat shot his head oflT. It was in view of that remarkable event that he congrat- ulated his sailors on the fact that a headless general would be of no further use to the rebels. We will now put Captain R. R. Breeze, a very relia- ble witness, on the stand, and hear wdiat he has to say, under oath, in relation to our charge that the Red River expedition was essentially a cotton-stealing enterprise : ■X- * * " The next morning tho wliole fleet proceeded up to Alexandria. On arriving there they [the fleet] seized a quan- tity of cotton, bagging, roping, and some sugar and molasses that was found in Confederate storehouses. There was a great deal of cotton found on the hanks of the river as we were going up, and a portion of that was seized by the gunboats." 93 Here wo gi-t at the secret of the dt-hiy referred to by P.ui.ks: " As we proceeded up tlie river, large qiuintities of cotton were found, which I was informed was marked ' C. S. A.' Tiiat was taken and put in some empty coal barges that we had with us, or rather some barges were discharged of their coal, and loaded with cotton." The captain might have added that it was sent up to Cairo as subject of prize to the Navy. He continues : " After our arrival, the Admiral received information from persons in Alexandria that there were quantities of cotton along the river at different points which was very accessible. Generally, and alwaj's, so far as I know, the information was that it belonged to the Confederate Government or to persons who were noted rebels — either themselves or the male members of their families in the rebel army. The Admiral sent vessels and secured all that lay along the banks of the river. * * * They took some mules from a Mrs. Wilson there. She loaned them to the Admiral, who promised to return them as soon as he got through with them, and did so — mules and horses. * * * T never went on any of these expeditions, but am quite sure none ever went over four miles." Banks says twelve. It was very kind of the Admiral to return to the poor woman her mules and horses, in- stead of making tliem subject of prize to the Navy. After saying that the Admiral, who had been up the river prospecting for cotton, again headed up the river, while lie, with the ilag shi}), wa.'^ ordered to head down, Captain Breeze proceeds : " Tliere was quite a number of speculators there. How they got there I do not know." He saw a great deal of cotton "being 94 brought in in sirmy wagons. * * * A number of them came to me and asked me if I would not seize their cotton in the name of the Navy. I told them I could not do it. They said they had 200 or 300 bales scattered about in different directions, and urged me to seize it in the name of the Navy, and let it be carried to Cairo, as prize cotton, and go before the courts. If they could prove their claim to it well and good ; if not, then the Navy would have it." Cotton was King, over that army at least. Que of these cotton speculators was a Mr. Sells, of St. Louis ; another was a Mr. Butler, where from not stated, very likely a relative of the redoubtable Ben. Then there was Yates, the truly loyal Governor of Illinois at one time. He came up on a steamer with a number of friends. " They had an order [Sells and Uutler had] from the Presi- dent directing all persons in authority, military or naval, to grant them all the facilities in going where they pleased, men- tioning particularly the Ked river, and about there. * * * (lovernor Yates' party had wanted to come uj) before General Banks had come up." There was something very original about this mode of carrying on a war. Captain Breeze continues : " These speculators said they could purchase cotton all about Alexandria, and they asked me if I would seize it after they had purchased, and claim it as prize to the Navy." A.n ingenious way of getting free transportation for their plunder, to say nothing of putting the Navy to such use. " In that way it would be got out of the clutches of General Banks, they said, and would be transported north to Cairo, go before the prize court of Illinois, [a somewhat soft court,] where they could present their claims of ownershij) and obtain 95 tlie cotton. The object of Governor Yates' party, as I under- stood it from those specuhitors, was to purchase cotton to pro- mote the interest of General Banks as tlio compromise candi- date for President. I heard tliis from a dozen different per- sons." With all due respect for Captaiu Bece/e's judgmeut, we must say that this story would be well enough to tell to the marines, but it is too absurd for serious considera- tion among sensible peo})]e. We have known General Banks too long to believe for a moment that he would lend himself to such a silly scheme. Sells and Butler were not the only cotton speculators. There was Casey & Co. and a Mr. Halliday, very likely a brother of Ben Halliday. We are not told whether this Casey is the famous brother-in-law of President Grant, and the political genius who has figured so ex- tensively in New Orleans ; but it is quite clear that Halliday was a particular friend of Admiral Porter and the Navy generally. As no great stealing enterprise can be skillfully manipulated without that modern invention, the ring, these speculators soon had two rings formed. There was the Sells ring and the Casey and Butler ring, to which Admiral Porter's particular friend Halliday was attached — in other words, there was a ring congenial to the Army and a ring congenial to the Navy, which kept an eye to windward when cotton bales were sighted. The first, if not the most important, business of these rings was the circulation of gross slanders, one aiming at the generals of the Army, the other at the officers of the Navy. Then they abused each other like drabs. The ring congenial to the Navy would accuse Banks and his 96 ({uarteriuaster, Holubird, of stealing all the cotton found inland, and applying the proceeds to their own use. There were sensible persons innocent enough to believe those stories. Now it was the " Array ring's " turn, and Porter and his officers would be charged with making a clean steal of all the cotton they could lay their hands on, and claiming it as prize to the Navy. That was a very aggravating way of putting it. Singular as it may seem, newspapers, far away from the scene of plunder, took sides with these scamps. We are told that nothing demoralizes human na- ture so much as cupidity. Here we had convincing proof of it. Speaking of this man Sells, Captain Breeze says : " Sells was in opposition to overybody ; he was there just to get cotton ; he is one of those men who do not care how they get cotton, or over whose back they ride to get it. I suppose his object was just to get cotton." He was not alone in that ; and hadn't he and Butler and Halliday permits from the President to go in and buy cotton, if they could; but steal it if they must? Better men than Sells appear to have been moved by no higher motive in this cotton business. The captain tells us there was a clergyman who used to " ask me to take his cotton. He seemed to be thor- oughly posted up in the matter." Our short army ex- perience made us suspicious when we saw a cler- gyman's name associated with cotton, molasses, mules, or cattle of any kind, so many of our chaplains turned sutlers during the war ; and when they did, thoy were such thieves. 97 Some of these eotton speeuliitor.s had trusliNl in I'l'ov- idence and the henevok'iice oi' Admiral Portof, and com. phiined bitterly that neither had done the ^([uaro tliiug with them. Ivisten again to Captain Breeze: " Till'}' sail! it was very hard imlcod that Admiral Porter would grant jHTinits to fioma to go up, and iinf lo others. They talked so inucli about it, and read remarks in the news- papers, and things of that kind, that INI r. Hallidav, wlio was a friend of tln^ Admiral's, showed them this order. | (Jrder from the President.] That was the way it got onl tliat tliere was such an order in existence." It does not seem to have oceurred to these di.sappointed speeulators that Admiral Porter was human, and having taken care of himself first, must next take care of his friends. They indeed overlooked the fact that the Ad- miral was acting in obedience to the example set by our illustrious President, who not only takes care of all his friends, but all his family. " I heard nothing but cotton hardly for tin- lour months I was there. If tliis Mr. Sells would tell all he knew, he could tell the whole story of it.'' * * * " Tiiej^ were all pitch- ing into General Banks for the part he and his quartermaster had taken in the business, but I did not pay much attention to what they said, for tlusy were very unscrupulous men." Some of the officers of the army tell a very amusing story of how the Admiral got ahead of some very hun- gry speculators who had been casting longiug glances at 2,'")00 bales of cotton ujt the Washita river. The Ad- miral sent one of his gunboats up that stream, and captured the cotton on his own account. 1 ■■'> 98 EXCITING I^EWS AISOUT COI'TON. A KICII BONANZA DISCO V KIIK I). THE ADMIRAL TAKES P.EAHINGS. November 24th, 1863, Commander James A. CJreer reports to Admiral Porter : " I have the honor to inform you that tlie Forest Rose lias now returned to this district, and is now guarding from Grand Gulf to St. Joseph'.s. I have heen informed by the command- ing officer of the Pittsburg that a citizen told him of about 12,000 [millions in it] bales of C. S. A. cotton within from twelve to twenty-five miles of Grand Gulf, in different lots." 3Iore Cotton. — C'ommodore E. K. Owen reports to Admiral Porter, Febrmuy 16th, 1864 : " We have succeeded so far in gathering about 450 bales of cotton, of which eighty are in the gunboats and the rest on the transports. Fifty-three bales are all of the C. S. A. that we have captured ; though but very little, if any, is marked at all." LIST OF UKEAT NAVAL ENGA(4E.MENT8 ACCORDING TO ADMIRAL PORTEIl. That the reader may not be misled by anything we have said in previous letters, we give below an accurate and carefully prepared list of the "Great Naval En- gagements " fought by Admiral Porter's fleet on the lied and other river.^, together with the material result of each victoi-y. Desperate Naval Engagement No. 1 was fought some time in February, 1864. Admiral Porter reports to Mr. Welles, (26th :) '■ I iiu'losi^ you :i copy of a coiiiiminicalion from Liouti'iiaiit Commander Selfrodi!;i!, of the Conestoga, giving; an aecount of tlie gallant manner in which he landed 4') men, and captured a ([uantity of rebel cotton," Ac., «.K:c. Material result of victory No. 1 : No bloodslied. Tiiirty-two hales of cotton, (rebel,) twenty mules, two horses, six ohl waj^ons, and two shot-iriins. all suhjects of prize. Desp:M-ate Naval Engagement No. 2 must have been fought about IVIarcli )>d, and must have been closely and fiercely contested, for Commander Ramsey informs us of what he did, alter this fashion : "On our arrival at Uarrisonhurg I landed with the Wishita, and set lire to some of the largest houses in the town." [ ! ! ! 1 He reports this to Admiral Porter, and seems to have regarded so barbarous an act as covering him with glory enough for one day. "While the houses were being tired a liody of cavalry and infantr}' was ^^aen coming up a ravine.'' * * * He made rapid time in getting al)oard his gunboat, and going to Trinity. The material result of this vic- tory we will give in Captain Ramsey's own words : " 1 remained at Trinity until tin; morning of the 4th, when we proceeded down Jilack river, and picking up all the cotton we could find near the banks, anchored twelve miles from the mouth." Desperate Naval Engagement No. o must have been fought .somewhere, but neither the date nor the locality is definitely fixed, wliich was a groat oversight in the 100 Admiral. Tlie victory was not fruitful of results, for the commander reports that he has shipped some very ragged contrabands, but regrets that he could find no cotton. That report must have sent the Admiral to bed feeling wretched. Desperate Naval Engagement No. 4 must have been fought somewhere " off Alexandria ; " but again we are at a loss for date and locality. That it was a very des- perate fight we can believe, for the Admiral himself had a hand in it, and covered himself all over with glory. He tells us in one of his illuminated despatches to Grandfather Welles : " The efforts of these peoidu [rebels] to keep up tliis war remiiitl one very much of the antics of Chinanu'ii, who build canvas forts, paint hideous dragons on their shields, turn som- ersaults, and yell in the face of their enemies, and then run away at the first sign of an engagement." Material result of the victory : "Seven prisoners of war and two hundred bales of cotton were captured." No mention is made of the number killed. We have since ascertained that this great naval battle must have been fought about March 12, 1864. Desperate Naval Engagement No. ") is something that will take the reader off his feet, and make his hair stand- It Avas fought early in April — about the 14th. We are more particular about the results than we are of the day the battle was fought on. f^ays the Admiral, in the most solemn manner : 101 " Our opinions wore vorilicd on inspection of tlio bodies of tlio slain, tlio nion aL'tually sini'iiing of Jj(Hiisiaiia rum." Louisiana rum, miud yo"- We are very glad to know that the Admiral's sense of smell is keen enough to distinguish between a dead soldier full of Louisiana rum and a dead soldier full of Boston rum. It was very thoughtless of those rebels not to have taken in a supply of Boston rum or Chicago whiskey before being shot. " A dying rebel informed our nu'ti tbat (Jcneral (Jreen bad bis bead blotoji off, wbicb I do not vouch for as true.'' This is the headless general (rebel) referred to in a previous letter as being of no further use to the Confed- erate cause. Desperate Naval Engagement No. 6 was fought about the middle of April, with the following result in mater- ial victory : " Sent an expedition up tbe Wisbita, as far as Monroe, whicb captured 3,000 bales of Confederate cotton, brougbt away 800 negroes, and destroyed mucb rebel property." Vide Admiral's report. That he put his trust in kind Providence and plenty of cotton, especially the latter, is shown by the next jiaragraph : " I have still confidence in a good Providence.'' So had Drake when he was carrying away the sacred images. Desperate Naval Engagement No. 7 must have been f'ouLrht early in May, for on the 8th of that mouth we liave a report of it from Lieutenant Commander George 102 P. Lord. The combat was doubtless very desperate, but there was no victory, the rebels getting decidedly the best of it. " M3- ammunition gave out, [says Commander Lord.] * * * I spiked the guns, had coals of fire strewn over the decks, and myself and executive officers (?) set fire to the cot- ton, which was on the guards alongside of the engines. I saw it burning finely before T left, and feel sure she [the Warner] was destroyed." So much for making cotton drogcrs of our ships of war and cotton pickers of our Navy officers. Desperate Naval Engagement No. 8 must have been fought about the middle of May, 1864, and, we regret to say it, the result of this combat was that our Admi- ral got soundly thrashed, and again lost his cotton. On the 16th of May he tells Grandfather Welles, in an in- tensely solemn dispatch : " I regret to inform you, among the misfortunes of this ex- pedition, of the loss of two light-draught gunboats, the Signal and Covington. I sent them down from Alexandria to convoy a quartermaster's boat loaded with cotton and some four hun- dred troops aboard." Yes, and the troops were sacrificed to the cotton. That was a very disgraceful affair, but we have no space for the details here. Desperate Naval Engagement No. 9 was fought some time in April. The intelligent reader will be able to appreciate the nature and extent of this engagement on reading a few extracts from a report of an investigation made by Commander R. Towusend, dated April 24th> 1864. He writes concerning the loss of the Petrel : 10;] " I am sorry the dark (.•loud presents no silver liiiintr. The investigation I have been able to make leads to the belief that a desire to procure cotton rather 'than the noble ambition of advancing the public service prompted the ill-fated expedi- tion." * * * -x- In regard to a telegraiu, received four days aftei- it was sent, Commauder Townsend says : " Did the cotton speculators delay it? Probably we shall never know ; but they are such unprincipled scoundrels that we may believe anj'thing shrewdly wicked regarding them." We have given enough of these desperate naval engagements to convince even a skeptical reader that our gallant Admiral covered himself all over with glory — and cotton — on the Red River. \ lUo LETTER No. 9. We next flighted our iimch-ailiuired Adiiiinil uu the coast of Fort Fisher. He was getting up a breeze all along that famous coast, and came booming i h.^ was al- ways booming^) down upon us under a marvelous press of canvas. He had his sky-scrapers and his moon-rakers, and his sky-sails set, his studding-sails out, every bow- line was taut, and not a sail was clewed. Then he took in all his light sails, run in his studding-sails (^stun. sails,^ clewed up his coursers, hauled his wind and braced up — and, well, what do you think he did, my innocent reader ? Why, he fired a broadside into a lumberly, old, worm-eaten frigate, named Ben Butler. That was wliat our breezy old admiral did ; and he congratulated him- self first, and (Trandfather Welles second, that ho had sent that worm-eaten old craft to the bottom of ti.j sea, there to remain until Gabriel blew his tout horn. But that lumberly old frigate had been sent to the bottom of the ocean such a number of times, and had invariably risen to the surface with all sail set, (and booming,) that we told the Admiral that we would wait, and watch the Avater for ripples. The Admiral, satisfied that we should never hear any more of the frigate Ben Butler, took in all his sail, heavy and light, came to a mooring, and invited us to come aboard and talk — well, what do you think? Politics. He did talk a good deal, and yet he did not sav pol- itics once. W^e will make oath of this. He did, how- ever, convince us that he was a great militarv, as well 14 106 as a great nautical genius, and he did it in tliis way — but just here we must pause to say that the nation ought to feel itself deeply indebted to us for disclosing this great fact of the Admiral's military genius ; and here let us say also that we are going to make this so clear that no average Congressman will dare dispute it. The Admiral told us, on the quarter-deck, and in strict confidence, that he had for more than a year been devoting his gigantic intellect to the study of the art of fortification, and how forts could be " boarded and cap- tured by sailors, armed with the ancient and economical cutlass." He had made a scientific calculation, and had got the whole thing, the fort and the sailor, down to a fine point. We must, however, not whisper it to another soul, since those miserable newspaper men were in the habit of printing every word he said, and he might be charged with being a plagiarist, and that his plan of boarding and capturing forts with sailoi's was not en- tirely original. On the following morning thv Admiral made a devel- opment of his newly-discovered method of boarding and capturing a fort with sailors, armed with the ancient cutlass, well sharpened. Here is the order under which the thing was accomplished : " General Orc'er No. 81. " North Atlantic Squadron, " Flagship Malvern, January Mh, 1865. " Before going into action [very sen.sible advice] the com- mander of each vessel will detail a.s many of liis men as he can spare from the guns as a landing party. " That we mav have a share in the assault, when it takes plufc, tho boats will be kept ready lowen-d near tlie water on tho off [this is not nautical ; it sounds like ott' ox] side of the vessel. The sailors will bo armed with outlasses, well sharp- ened, [of course,] and with revolvers. When the signal is made to man the boats, tho men must get in, and stow them- selves away. [That is. Jack must ' la}' low and keep his cut- lass dry.] When the signal is made to assault, the boats will pull around the stern of the monitors, and land right abreast of them, [What then, Jack is ashore?] and board the fort on the run, [board the fort on the run is good,] in a seamanlike way. [Jack wouldn't do it any other way.] The marines will form in the rear, and cover the sailors. [That was what marines were made for.] Whih; tho soldiers are going over the parapets in front, the sailors will take the sea-face of Fort Fisher." That means that they must take it in flank, board it, and hold it, and all " with a will and a heave together," (the Admiral knows what this means,) and armed with the ancient cutlass, which is dear to every sailor's heart. The Admiral finishes up by saying: " We can land two thousand men from tho fleet, and not feel it. Two thousand active men from the fleet will carry the day." * * * * " (Signed) David D. Porter, " Rear Admiral, Coning North Atlantic Squadron." In another remarkable order, marked " Flagship Malvern, Jantiary 15th, 1865," the Admiral promulgates : " No move is to be made forward until the Army charges, [Jack is ashore now,] when the Navy is to assault the sea or southern face [a flank movement] of the work, going over the parapet with cutla.ss drawn and revolver in hand." Who will say after this tliat the Adinii-al does not J 08 posses? military genius of" a very liigli order. The pic- ture of a sailor going over tliat parapet, cutlass and re- volver in hand, would be a sight so novel and. original as to be well worth the study of some of our painters. " The marines will follow after, and when they gain the (>clge of the parapet they will lie Hat on their hacks and pick otf the enemy in the work." Our acquaintance with the marines leads us to believe they would not do anything of the kind, " The sailors [same order] will charge at once on the field pieces in the fort and kill the gunners." That is positively shocking. * * * 11 jf^ when our men get into the fort, the enemy commence firing on Fort Fisher from the mound, every three (8) men [three against one is not fair] will seize a prisoner and pitch him over the walls [that is exactly the way a truly loyal sailor should treat an unthinking rebel gunner,] and then get behind the fort for protection — or into the bomb-proofs." Now, it occurs to us that before sending sailors, armed with the ancient cutlass, however well sharpened, to board a fort, the distance and character of the ground between the sailor and the fort should be the first things considered. If we are informed right, in this instance the distance between the fort and the shore (point as- sailed at by the Navy) was a little more than a mile, the ground being a soft sand. That being the case the sailors "would not Only have found it very laborious work to make headway over the sand, but would have been in no condition to "board a fort" and kill the gunners, or, no, pitch " them over the walls " when they reached lOil it. Did tlio Admii'al iiicliif the evacuation of Richmond." '^' ■•' ■'' This is all very well, Mr. Wells ; but *lid'nt the Ad- miral hear the firing, know it was his fleet that was firing, although he eould not see it ? Did'ut he know, too, exactly how much ammunition his ships were expend- ing ? Having fought his naval engagement, and cap- tured nearly a million dollars worth of prize, it is only natural that he should stick to it. Again, the District Attorney Wells says : "The destruction of the Confederate Heet was determined on about midday of Sunday, April 2d, and was accomplished uOout midnight." [Such is the testimony.] "That Richmond IK) Wiis ev.iciiiitt'il iibout siiiirisf on April ;>d. In short tliut our Army had cajitured Richmond, and all that appertained to it, including the Beaufort and Texas two days before any capture by the fleet could have taken place, and that the only obstruc- tions removed from the James river by Admiral Porter \V(!re those placed there by himself." * * ''' Are we to infer from this tluit tlie Admiral has again been booming — that is, that he had set more sail than he could carry — and that Mr. Wells, in this very un- kind way, tells him he had better take some of it in ? Admiral Porter, we can tell Mr. Wells, is not the man to furl his sails under such circumstances. But, to tell the truth, that great naval engagement was all on paper. There was nobody hurt, no ammuni- tion wasted, and only a pound of priming powder used in all. The firing heard was the army firing a salute over the downfall of Richmond. That the Admiral sincerely believed there was a desperate naval engage- ment between his fleet and the Beaufort and Texas, wc can easily believe. His head was full of naval engage- ments just about that time ; and as an admirer of the Admiral and th(; way he sticks to a thing, we are not disposed to be too exacting. On the 2d of December, 1mivtic duties for tlie first time. Now, in England it is difi'erent. There persons are educated for the diplomatic pro- fession, and a British naval otlioer, in many cases, is put under the orders of the Minister.' There is a good deal of this " tacks aud sheets" sort of testimony given by Admiral Porter before the Commit- tee, which must have been highly instructive to the legal gentlemen composing it. The upshot of the Ad- miral's testimony, or rather his opinions — for he gave them in great profusion — was that we should be careful to select our ministers and cousuls from the Navy, and keep the politicians, scholars, and statesmen at home. Perhaps if we had jjut Grant at one end of the Admin- istration and Admiral Porter at the other, aud have left them to run the thing on joint account between the Army and Navy, the brains would not have been knocked out of the Republican party so soon. The plan is sug- gestive, however, and may be tried during the next cen- tury. Now, there is nothing the British Government is more careful of than in instructing her naval officers, especi- ally in cases where prompt action is necessary, to co-op- erate with and act in obedience to the advice or instructions of the Minister. A wider margin is given to the naval officer in his relations to consuls. This very Paraguayan misunderstanding affords two brilliant if not flattering examples of the kind of diplomats and consular agents, admirals and commodores of the great American navy would nuike. The first of these was that sturdy old salt and very fine gentleman. Admiral 125 Godon, for whose excellent qualification as a diplomat Admiral Porter vouches in the following manner: " His standiiii:; is very high as an officer — as an able man. He is a great talker (!) He is really one of the cleverest men in the JtTavy — I mean professionally, and in point of intelli- gence. He is also well read in the law." The Admiral should have told us in what kind of law this very accomi)lished old salt was versed. We have read or heard of men being first-class sailors among lawyers, and first-classs lawyers among sailors. It is not quite clear as to the Admiral's status as a lawyer. That he was a "great talker," indeed, could out-talk any man on his fleet, or on the east coast of South America, the testimony abundantly proves. And yet we have a suspicion that we must accept him as " a great talker" in the same sense in which we can accept Admiral Porter as a great writer. Admiral Godon, according to the testimony, was as full of fight as a centipede, and like Sir Lucius O'Trig- ger, w-as never so happy as when he was brewing quar- rels by the dozen. His first quarrel was with the subor- dinate line officers of his own squadron, which was as pretty a quarrel as we remember to have read of for a long time. The knowledge of epithets used, one against the other, must have been acquired from long experi- ence in the diplomatic corps. Tiiere was a Captain Crosby and a fleet surgeon, a gentleman well read in the natural sciences, who were always measuring lances, or rather cutlasses, with the Admiral. And it was no uncommon thing for one to refer to the other as the son of a female dog, or a d — d scoundrel ; while the other retorted 126 hy saying the Admiral was an idiot, whose proper place . was a mad-house. We put it in this mild way to oblige all parties. The doctor's quarrel with the Admiral had a number of amusing features in it. One of these was the result of the Admiral throwing the doctor's pills into the sea, following them with sundry contemptuous remarks, and absolutely refusing to take his physic. The doctor, innocent man, only wanted to physic the Admi- ral into a better condition of mind. And while this quarrel between this fine old Admiral and his subordi- nate line officers was progressing as well as could be desired, one of a much more alarming character broke out between the line and staff. We may also add that the Adiniral, to use his own words, was always seeing " breakers ahead," and was always making breakers. As if to illustrate the extent of his accomplishments and sustain the good character as a diplomatist well read in the law', given him by Admiral Porter, he en- gaged in a quarrel with our Minister, James AVatson Webb, who he used to call, in the presence of his officers, a venerable old wind bag and played-out politician. Ilere is a specimen of his diplomatic style in speaking of JMinister Webb : " General Webb wrote in my cabin a letter to Mr. Wash- burn. It was a very long letter." [General Webb never wrote a short one.] " It was a very offensive letter. I men- tion it especially because Mr. Washburn has stated that I did not answer his letter, but allowed General Webb to answer it for me. God help tlie mark, at mj' time of life, with my edu- cation and my experience, and, I will saj^, with my vanity, [there is where all the trouble comes in] that I should have got General AVebb to answer a letter which I had received !" (p. 74.) 127 Our readers cannot fail to be deeply impressed with the delicate and peculiarly diplomatic character of the language used in the last sentence of the above para- graph. This of itself would be sufficient to establisli the Admiral's claims to a first-class mission abroad. Finally this testy old salt rolled himself up in the American flag, proclaimed himself the United States, and proceeded to make war on all the American min- isters and consuls on his station. He would have enjoyed hanging Washburn at the yard-arm. He did not care a d n for Bliss and Marsterman, one an American and the other a British subject under American protec- tion, who were held as prisoners and tortured by the tyrant Lopez. In short, he believed they Avere scoundrels, in Paraguay for no good purpose ; and as they did not get there through any agency of his they might stay there. As for Minister Washburn he believed he was a great rascal, a played-out politician, and, like all other ministers, only represented a corrupt political party while he, the Admiral, represented the whole United States. Calling our ministers these very bad names, at his dinner table and in the presence of liis officers, was a way the Admiral had of illustrating his fitness for diplomatic duties. He as good as told JNIinister Washburn he could go to a place rather warmer than was desirable at that season of the year, and he would go to St. Catharines, enjoy himself, and stay until coals got chea]). It grieves us to say that on another occasion, as set forth in the testi- mony, this testy old salt, with all the accomplishments necessary to a diplomat of the higher orders, ( I'ule 128 Porter,) said JNliuister Washburn was a son of a female dog — we put it in that way to oblige the Admiral — and this, too, at his own table, and in the presence of his officers. In truth, the Admiral and some of his of- ficers seem to have regarded witli entire indifi'erence the fact that a gross insult had been ofi'ered to their country or that countrymen of theirs were suffering imprison- ment and torture at the hands of a petty tyrant. Their sympathies, if they had any, were with the cruel Lopez, as the sympathies of Mr. Washburn's successor seem to to have been with his strumpet, Mrs. Lynch. This Admiral, so well read in the law, finally set up for a judge, and claimed the right to decide what kind of a minister he would confer with and respect. " Now, (p. 85,) if Mr. A.darD.s, or any man like him, should as a minister, make a request of me, I should probably [prob- ably?] act upcm it, but unfortunately all our ministers are not like Mr. Adams."' Mr. Adams ought to feel grateful for this high com- pliment. Satisfied that the Admiral had served his country abroad quite long enough, he was told he could come home and enjoy the remainder of his days in retire- ment, or in reading all the great authorities on diplo- macy. His successor, a gentleman of more judgment and practical sense, sadly failed in the performance of his duty, and also failed to distinguish between his own opinions and the law of nations. That crudest of mod- ern tyrants, Lopez, seems to have charmed him at first sight, as he subsequently charmed Minister Mc]\[alioii. 129 After writing- a very projier and very manly letter, de- manding the })ri?oners, Bliss and ]\Iarsterman, ]\o with- di-e\v it after "a talk" with Lopez, and wr()t(^ another, whieli had the earmarks of a gentle request, and was not ealeulated to wound the delieate sensibilities of His jNIajesty, as if sueh a monster as Lopez had any sensi- bilities. Lopez gave the prisoners up, deelaring them to be scoundrels and dangerous men. And because he did so the Admiral and his line officers took it for granted that they must treat them as such. Not only were these men received on board the ship as prisoners, and held as j)risoners, but they were treated as criminals, and made to submit to indignities we shall not name heie. And all this, it grieves us to say, at the hands of oHicers of the American Navy^ who should be prompt to sympa- thize with their countrymen in distress. Even the tat- tered garments of the px'isouers were alluded to in terms of derision — and all to please the wretched tyrant Lo- pez. Indeed, the only kindness they received while on board was from Surgeon Duvall and one or two other staff officers. Thedoctor tells us in his testimony that — " Crtptaiii Woolsey canio out of his cubin and told the execu- tive officer to send these men, Bliss and Marsterman, ofl" the (|uarter deck into the jiort gangwa}', a greater indignity than which cannot be oflered to any man on board a man-of-war," (n. 107.) Comnumder Ramsey would evidently make a first- class diplomatist as well as a nautical missionary, for he tells us, on page 179 : 17 130 " 1 remember most distinctly that I suEjgestcd to Admiral Davis that the request of President Lopez could only be carried out by keeping them under sentinel's charge. President Lopez expresslj' asked that they should not be allowed to commu- nicate with his enemies." How tenderly the CommautU!r touches the tyraut. :}1 LETTER No. 12. AVc must wiud ii|) tlu'sc yams with iiu account of a rare old British Mariner, "■ Captain John Stai-button, of tlie Leather Bottle," (Iravesend, p]ngland. Meeting the genial Washington Irving, in this city, in the winter of 1852-o, we told him we were about to make a visit to, and perhaps spend a year or two in England. He invited us to come and see him at his rooms, where he was arranging souk; newly ac(juired material for his life of Washington. With that kind- ness of heart, for which he was famous, he gave us two letters, one to the popular publisher, John Murray, and the other to a country gentleman, whose attentions we never shall forget. He also gave us a list of many places famous in history and literature, he said it would interest us to visit. Then taking the list back, he added to it, drop down to (irravesend, and visit the famous old "Leather Bottle Tavern." It was a model English inn, he said, somewhat nautical in its surroundings, and a resort for quaint old navy officers, who would afford us a subject of study. We had been nearly six months in England, and had almost forgotten the Leather Bottle, when a literary friend drop})ed in on us one evening, and the circum- stance was alluded to. He very soon proved to us that he was familiar with that old hostlery, its associa- tions, and many of its visitors, and proposed to accom- pany us whenever it would be agreeable to make the visit. Well, we took the Gravesend steamer one bright 132 luoniing-, (bright for :i TjoihIoii morning,) and reached the Leather Bottle with the sun at noon. There was something so cosy about the ohi two-story inn. Ivy crept in thick chisters on the walls, and gathered in loving festoons over the gables and porch. Little beds of flowers dotted a neatly kept front yard, a graveled walk led up to the front door, and on an old sign above was inscribed " The Leather Bottle." Mine host, a burly man, in a blue coat and flashy vest, met us at the door, and after giving us a hearty sailor-like welcome, bowed us into what he called the front paidor. Numerous naval and military relics and curiosities hung here and there ; and mine host, who had been a warrant officer in the uavy, showed us a sword worn by one of Nel- son's lieutenants, at the battle of Trafalgar. Mine host left us, and sent Margery, a bright blue- eyed, and flaxen-haired waiting girl, to see if there was anything in the Leather Bottle she could serve us with. There was an air of good cheer and man-of-war neatness about the place. "Ah!" said the girl, looking out of the window, as she waited for onr order, " here comes your friend, Captain .Starbiittou. Maybe you will wait for him, gentlemen I " This was addressed to my friend, INIr. Low, who answered in the aflirmative. "He's such a good old man when he is isn't in a bad temper. Its as how the winds blows w'ilh him." There he came, a man of middle size, wrapped in a stout pea jacket, and tight-litting blue trowsers, a loosely turned-down shirt collar, tied with a black silk handker- chief, the ends of which fluttered over his breast. He also wore a navy cap, witii a narrow gold band, and his 133 eyes were shii'lded with ^-oggle-s. He adviiuced u]) the path ill a feehh% haU'-lialtin^- .step, a cane in one hand, and tlie other thrust into the breast ol' his coat, and made three stops before he reached the porch, looking up each time, as if studying the weatlier. >rine liost advanced to meet him and exchange sahites on the porcli, as was his custom, and as he did so the ohl captain came to a lialt, raised his cane, and cried out : " A, ho ! A, lio ! Pi})e all hands to quarters and clear the decks for action when you see me coming." After exchanging some badinage with the bar-maid, he entered the parlor, and, glancing at Margery from head to foot, he exclaimed : " Royals set and pennants flying, eh, ^fargcry ?" and he tapped her playfully under the chin. '• Here is these gentlemen waitin. What will th(;y think?" she .said, reproachfully. Just then he recog- nized us, and, tossing his cap and cane on a settee, ap- proached my friend with his hand extended and gave him such a warm greeting: " You are welcome to the Leather Bottle, gentlemeu. Yes, you are twice welcome to the Leather Bottle — the only ship I have any com- mand of now." Our friend now introduced us as a gentleman from the United .States of America. " From the United .States of America ? From the United States of America ?' ' he inquired, enthusiastically. " Then here's old Jack Starlnittou's hand, and its a hand with a heart in it. I'm a poor old weather-worn, badly paid, and nuich al)used sailor ; have .seen thirty-live years' sea service, and get no thanks." And he shook our hand with great warmth of manner. " You've got a glorious country and should be proud of it. Yes, sir ;' proud of it. Cheap Government, mag- nificent Navy, and no established church. D n me, sir, I've been there, and know you have no established church, but a nuignifita^nt Navy, and officers who know how to fight in it." lEere he attempted to relieve liis eyes of the goggles, but liis wig came off at the same time, disclosing a head as bright, round, and bald as a billiard ball. He replaced the wig with the quickness of a boy and went to the glass to see that every bor- rowed lock was in its place. " Now, Margery," he resumed, " clear the decks, Sherry first, sherry, mind you ; then a lunch, such as the Leather Bottle can serve." Margery disappeared and soon returned with the sherry, when the old nuin drew his chair up to the table and filling our glasses, resumed : " Now, gentlemen, we will drink to the United States of America ; a country with so many blessings that not one half the people appreciate them ; a country tliat is l)lesscd with a cheap Government, a magnificent Navy, and no established church." We were somewhat surprised to hear him speak in such glowing terms of our Navy and suggested that England^ too, had a powerful navy. " Mistake, sir ; mistake, sir. England had a navy once, a great and glorious navy. That was when her wooden walls and her canvas was her power, and sea- manship was worth something. To-day England's navy has gone to the dogs. Its sad to think of it, its sad to l:]5 thinU of it." And hv shook his iicad sorrowl'iiliy, his voice thickeiK'd, and lu' \vi{)od away thr tear that was glistening in his cyi's. " AVell, well/" he resumed, " we nuiv as well cheer tin take another drop ol' sherry, and fbiget the JJritish navy's past greatness. The first great nii.stake England made was in introducing steam instead of sails. Fatal mistake, sir ; fatal mistake. A man-y-war, sir, with a small hell in one end of her lower hold and a cauldron or boiler of scalding hot water in the other is not the thing. You put a worse enemy in your own ship than the enemy you are sent to fight against. Bad enough, sir, to be shot to death standing up and fighting the enemy like a man, broadside to broadside, and yard-arm to yard-arm. That's the way Nelson and Marlborough used to take their enemies. Think of Nelson orColling- wood on board- a man-a-war on wheels, and in danger of being scalded to death at the first 'fire! Nelson would a sailed into hell if he'd got bows headed that way; but he did'nt want no hell aboard his own ship. No sense whatever iu the thing, and I have been twelve yeais trying to get this into the heads of the Lords of the Ad- miralty. God help us, its like trying to get sense into a stone wall." He paused for a minute, invited us to take another turn at the sherry. We had met bluff and farmer-like Sir Charles Napier, and we had listened for hours to the lean but courtly Dundonald, while he recounted his grievances, but we had never met anything like Caj)tain Jack Starbutton, in the Avay of an old salt. " Then you see," he resumed, " we are building iioii 130 instead of wooden Avails, and making them so thick and heavy that a ship's got all she can do io float under them. D me, sir, this fighting behind iron walls is'nt the thing. How would Nelson have looked boxed uj) in an iron chest V Why,sir, he would have sent such iron and boiling water contrivances to the devil — that's what he would have done. And he would have told the Board of Adminilty to follow' them, too. England's Navy has gone to the (h)gs, sir — gone to the dogs. Not worth mentioning, a thing of the past" — and again his voice thickened, and his eyes filled with tears — " makes nie feel bad whenever I talk about it," he muttered. Here my friend interposed by saying, in a compli- mentary way that the cajitain had devoted a great num- ber of years too, and had })erfected a plan for reform- ing and putting tin; P)ritish Navy ou first-class fighting footing. This relieved the old s;iilor's feelings, and he at once brightened up again. " Yes, sir ; " he resumed, " I've, as our friend says, devoted the best years of my life to that plan, and it points out the only way to reform the British Navy." We asked him why he did not get the Admiralty to adopt it. " Tried to do that for fourteen long years — didn't succeed. That Board of Admiralty, sir, is wooden- headed. On my word as a sailor, there's more dry-rot in that Board of Adnnralty than there is in a dozen old hulks. The old codgers are all toothless, and not one of them's a year under seventy-four. ' Here's my man,' says I, when Sir James Graham w'as made First Lord of the Admiralty. ' Captain, I'll do what I can for voii/ lio says. ' Tluiiik your honor,' says I, and he orderod me a hearing, after (ourteen long year.-, before the Board of Admiralty." " Did you go?" we iutiuired. "Go? eh gad, I did! And what do you tliink the toothh'.ss old codgers did? They said 1 must read from the manuscript, and then went fast asleep before i had got over a hundred pages.'" " Did you leave them asleep?" we interrupted. ''Eh gad, I did that. And I bowed myself out, and have had uothing more to do with the lioard of Ad- miralty." In reply to our (juestion lie told us his plan eovered fourteen hundred and seventy-eight pages of closely written manuscript, and if we woulil make him a visit at his snuggery, as he called it, which was not a stone's throw from the " Leather Bottle," he would rea