A Century of Sail and Steam on the Niagara River Part 16

After giving an account of his earlier life and share in the American Civil War, and of a project to join some adventures in Cuba he says, "While I was wondering how I could get into communication with Cespedes, my interest was aroused by a newspaper story of the new blockade runner _Let Her B._ The _Let Her B._, whose name was a play on words, was a long, powerful, schooner-rigged steamship, built by Lairds on the Mersey. Though cla.s.sed as a fifteen-knot ship she could do sixteen or seventeen knots (19 miles) which was fast going at that time. There was so much money in blockade-running that the owners of one could well afford to lose her after she had made three successful trips.

"In five minutes I decided to become a blockade-runner and to buy the new and already famous ship, if she was to be had at any price within reason. I bought a letter of credit and took the next ship for Bermuda. On my arrival there I found that the _Let Her B._ had been expected in for several days from her second trip and that there was considerable anxiety about her. A fresh cargo of munitions of war was awaiting the _Let Her B_, and a ship was ready to take to England the cotton she would bring.

"I got acquainted with the agent for the blockade-runner, and offered to buy her and take the chance that she might never come in. He wanted me to wait until the arrival of her owner, Joseph Berry, who was expected daily from England.

"After waiting several days I said to him one morning, "It looks as though your ship had been captured or sunk. I'll take a gambler's chance that she hasn't and will give you $50,000 for her and $25,000 for the cargo that is waiting for her; you to take the cargo she brings in. I'll give you three hours to think it over."

"It looked as though I was taking a long chance, but I had a "hunch" that she was all right, and I never have had a well-defined "hunch" steer me in anything but a safe course, wherefore I invariably heed them. At the expiration of the time limit there was not a sign of smoke in any direction and the agent accepted my proposition. In half an hour I had a bill of sale for the ship and the warehouse receipts for the cargo of war-supplies.

"At sunset that day a ship came in from England with her former owner. He criticized his agent sharptly at first, but when two more days pa.s.sed with no sign of the anxiously-looked-for ship, Mr. Berry concluded that he had all the best of the bargain, and complimented his agent on his shrewdness.

"On the third day the _Let Her B._ came tearing in, pursued at long range by the U.S.S. Powhatan, which proceeded to stand guard over the harbour, keeping well off sh.o.r.e on account of the reefs and shoals that were under her lee.

"The _Let Her B._ discharged a full cargo of cotton and was turned over to me. I went over her carefully while her cargo of arms was going in and found her in excellent condition. She was unloaded in twelve hours, and all her cargo was safely stowed in another forty-eight hours. I took command of her, with John B. Williams, her old captain, as sailing master, and determined to put to sea at once.

"I knew the Powhatan would not be looking for us so soon, and planned to catch her off her guard. There was then no man-of-war entrance to the harbor and it was necessary to enter and leave by daylight. With the sun just high enough to let us get clear of the reefs before dark, and with the Powhatan well off sh.o.r.e and at the farthest end of the course she was lazily patrolling, we put to sea.

"The Powhatan saw us sooner than I had expected, and started but she was not quick enough. The moment she swung around I increased our speed to a point which the pilot loudly swore would pile us up on the rocks. But it didn't and when we cleared the pa.s.sage we were all of four miles in the lead. As I had figured, the Powhatan did not suppose we would come out for at least a week, and was cruising slowly about with fires banked, so it took her some time to get up a full head of steam. She fired three or four shots at us, but they fell far short.

"At sunrise we had the ocean to ourselves.

"I started in at once to master practical navigation, the theory of which I knew, and to familiarize myself with the handling of a ship. I stood at the wheel for hours at a time and almost wore out the instruments taking reckonings by the sun and stars. Navigation came to me naturally, for I loved it, and in three days I would have been willing to undertake a cruise around the world with a Chinese crew.

"We arrived off Charleston late in the afternoon and steamed up close insh.o.r.e until we could make out the smoke of the blockading fleet, which was standing well out, in a semi-circle. Then we dropped back a bit and anch.o.r.ed. All of the conditions shaped themselves to favor us. It was a murky night, with a hard blow, which came up late in the afternoon, and when we got under way at midnight a good bit of a sea was running.

"With the engines held down to only about half speed, but ready to do their best in a twinkling, we headed for the harbor, standing as close insh.o.r.e as we dared go. We pa.s.sed so close to the blockading-ship stationed at the lower end of the crescent that she could not have depressed her guns enough to hit us even if we had been discovered in time. But she did not see us until we had pa.s.sed her. Then she let go at us with her bow guns and, while they did no damage, we were at such close quarters that their flash gave the other ships a glimpse of us as we darted away.

"They immediately opened on us, but after the first minute or two it was a case of haphazard shooting with all of them. The first sh.e.l.ls exploded close around us, and some of the fragments came aboard, but no one was injured. When I saw where they were firing I threw my ship farther over toward Sullivan's Island, where she could go on account of her light draft, and sailed quietly along into the harbor at reduced speed. At daylight we went up to the dock and were warmly welcomed.

"Before the second night was half over we had everything out of her and a full cargo of cotton aboard, and we steamed out at once. I knew the blockaders would not expect us for at least four days, and we surprised them just as we had surprised the Powhatan at Bermuda. It was a thick night, and we sailed right through the fleet at half speed, but prepared to break and run for it at the crack of a gun. Not a shot was fired or an extra light shown.

"As soon as we were clear of the line we put on full speed and three days later we were safe at Turk's Island, the most southerly and easterly of the Bahama Islands, off the coast of Florida, which I had selected as a base of operations. These islands were a haven and a clearing-house for the outsiders who were actively aiding the Confederacy for a very substantial consideration.

"Most of the blockade-runners, including the _Banshee_, _Siren_, _Robert E.

Lee_, _Lady Sterling_, and other famous ships, were operating out of Na.s.sau, which had the advantage of closer proximity to the chief Southern posts, being within 600 miles of Charleston and Wilmington, while Turk's Island was 900 miles away, but I never have believed in following the crowd. It is my rule to do things alone and in my own way, as must be the practice of every man who expects to succeed in any dangerous business. The popularity of Na.s.sau caused it to be closely watched by the Federal cruisers that patrolled the Gulf Stream, while the less important islands to the south and east were practically unguarded.

"Though precarious for the men who made them so, those were plenteous days for the Bahamas, compared with which the rich tourist toll since levied on the Yankees is but small change. The fortunes yielded by blockade-running seemed made by magic, so quick was the process. Cotton that was bought in Charleston or Wilmington for ten cents a pound sold for ten times as much in the Bahamas, and there were enormous profits in the return cargoes or military supplies. The captains and crews shared in the proceeds and the health of the Confederacy was drunk continuously and often riotously.

"By the time I projected myself temporarily into this golden atmosphere of abnormal activity, running the blockade had become more of a business and less of a romance than it was in the reckless early days of the war.

"Before leaving Bermuda I had ordered a cargo of munitions of war sent to Turk's Island. We had to wait nearly a month for this shipment to arrive, but the time was well spent in overhauling the engines and putting the _Let Her B_ in perfect condition.

"My second trip to Charleston furnished a degree of excitement that exalted my soul. While we were held up at Turk's Island the blockading fleet had been strengthened and supplemented by several small and fast boats which cruised around outside of the line. Without knowing this I had decided--it must have been in response to a "hunch"--to make a dash straight through the line and into the harbor. And it was fortunate that we followed this plan, for they were expecting us to come up from the south, hugging the sh.o.r.e as we had done before, and if we had taken that course they certainly would have sunk us or forced us aground.

"We were proceeding cautiously, but did not think we were close to the danger zone, when suddenly one of the patrol ships picked us up and opened fire. Her guns were no better than pea-shooters, but they gave the signal to the fleet, and instantly lights popped up all along the line ahead.

"In the flashing lights ahead I saw all of the excitement that I had been longing for, and with an exultant yell to the helmsman to "Tell the engineer to give her ----l," I pushed him aside and seized the wheel. I fondled the spokes lovingly and leaned over them in a tumult of joy. It was the great moment of which I had dreamed from boyhood.

"I had antic.i.p.ated that when it came I would be considerably excited and forgetful of all of my carefully-thought-out plans for meeting an emergency, but to my surprise I found that I was as cool as though we had been riding at anchor in New York Bay. The opening gun cleared my mind of all its anxieties and intensified its action. I remember that I took time to a.n.a.lyze my feelings to make sure that I was calm and collected and not stunned and stolid and that I was silent from choice and not through anything of fear.

"As though spurred by a human impulse, the little ship sprang forward as she felt the full force of her engines and never did she make such a race as she did that night. In the sea that was running and at the speed that we were going we would ordinarily have had two men at the wheel, but I found it so easy and so delightful to handle the ship alone that I declined the a.s.sistance of Captain Williams, who stood behind me.

"Though I am not tall, being not much over five feet and eight inches, nature was kind in giving me a well-set-up frame and a powerful const.i.tution, devoid of nerves but with muscles of steel, and with a reserve supply of strength that made me marvel at its source.

"The widest opening in the already closing line was, luckily directly in front of us, and I headed for it. The sparks from our smokestack gave the blockaders our course as plainly as though it had been noon-day, and they closed in from both sides to head us off. Shot and sh.e.l.l screamed and sang all around the undaunted _Let Her B._

"First the mainmast and then the foremast came down with a crash, littering the decks with their gear. A sh.e.l.l carried death into the forecastle. One shot tore away the two forward stanchions of the pilot-house, and another one smashed through the roof, but neither Captain Williams nor I was injured. All of our boats and most of our upper works were literally shot to pieces.

"From first to last we must have been under the terrific fire for half an hour, but it seemed not more than a few minutes, and it really was with something of regret that I found the shots were falling astern. When we got up to the dock we found that five of our men had been killed and a dozen more or less injured. The ship had not been damaged at all, so far as speed and seaworthiness in ordinary weather were concerned, though she looked a wreck.

"The blockaders expected we would be laid up for a month. Consequently when we steamed out on the fourth night, after making only temporary repairs, they were not looking for us and we got through their line without much trouble.

"We refitted at Turk's Island, where we laid up for three weeks.

"I made two more trips to Charleston without any very exciting experiences, though we were fired on both times, and then sold the ship to an enterprising Englishman at Turk's Island. I made a comfortable fortune with her and sold her for more than I paid for her."

The _Let Her B._ was never captured, but the war closed the year after her arrival and upon its conclusion she was brought North and registered as a Canadian vessel at the Port of Pictou, Nova Scotia, and her name at the same time changed to _Chicora_.

FOOTNOTES:

[5] "Adventure Magazine," New York, Jan. 1911.

CHAPTER XV.

THE CANADIAN ELECTRIC TO QUEENSTON--AN OLD PORTAGE ROUTE REVIVED--HISTORY OF THE TWO PORTAGES--THE TREK TO THE WESTERN STATES--CHIPPEWA ARRIVES--NOTABLE Pa.s.sENGER MEN.

No wonder that after his recital of her prowess, much as we had esteemed the bonnie ship, we now thought all the more of her, for as ill the times of her previous owners, so now in ours, there appeared to be a sort of living sprite within her frames, evidencing a spirit of life, and consciousness, as that of a fond friend, as well as a faithful servant.

Perhaps it is this very affection which arises between a man and his ship that has led to all vessels being spoken of in the feminine, and familiarly as "she." Perhaps, however it may be that it comes from their kittenish "kittly-cattly" ways, for you never know what a vessel will do, until you have tried her.

1890 brought us still further on the way to success. The business was fast increasing, under the more frequent services and the spread of advertising, and solicitation. So much was this the case that the possibility of placing another steamer on the route began to be debated, not only by ourselves, but by other people who were looking on.

A small American steamer had been running between Lewiston and Youngstown, and there was some talk of putting on another. Rumors also spoke of an electric line to be built between these points to more closely connect the troops of the American Garrison at Fort Niagara with the forces of the State of New York. We thought, therefore, it would be as well to obtain the dock at Youngstown, to which rail connections could be made, and also to create an American company, under which American steamers could be owned and operated by us, should it at any time be thought well to do so.

The "Niagara River Navigation Co., Limited," was then formed under a charter obtained from the State of New York, and the stock subscribed and paid up by members of the Niagara Navigation Co. families, the Board being,--John Foy, President; Barlow c.u.mberland, Vice-President, and three gentlemen of Buffalo, directors.

The Youngstown Dock, which had been privately purchased, and is the dock down to which the railway track of 1885 ran, was taken over by this American company, and some people, whom it had been suggested might put on American steamers to run in compet.i.tion with the Niagara Navigation Company, were informed that we were empowered, and quite ready to meet them under their own condition, so they drew in their horns and nothing more was heard of the matter.

A policy was formulated which has ever since been maintained, of adding steamers as the traffic, and new developments showed might be required and to add them even in advance of actual requirements.

From the position of its ports, and the variable requirements of the connecting lines, the Niagara River Line can be best handled by one stable company, in full control of docks at all the landing places, and with a number of steamers sufficient to meet all possible emergencies of sudden demands of travel as they arrive at different times on the several railway connections on both sides of the lake. The very flexibility of the service ensures adequate provision to keep the largest excursion business moving without delay, and with convenience from whatever quarter or connection it may at any hour come.

In 1891 Captain McGiffin was promoted to command of _Cibola_ in succession to Captain McCorquodale, who after having given fullest satisfaction and faithful service, had died during the previous season. Captain W. H.

Solmes, of Picton, was now appointed to _Chicora_.

In this year began the project for the construction of the _Niagara Falls Park and River Railway_ on the Canadian side, following the bank of the river from Niagara Falls to Queenston and being the first electric railway to be built in this vicinity on either side of the river.