Great Falls tribune. [volume], January 02, 1886, Image 1

About Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890

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VOL, 1, GREAT FALLS, MONTANA TERRITORY, SATURDAY,IJANUARY 2, I886, NO, 34
REM1NESCENCE OF THE WAR.
¢oR THE TRIBUN,.
It was early in '64, when Grant
was still holding Lee in his grip, and
the greatest soldier of modern times
was marching from Atlanta to the sea,
that the intelligence arrived by the
dispatclboat Gettysburg of some dis
aster to our forces in North Carolina.
There was a force at the town of
Plymouth supposed to be strong
euol- i, Ii 'i _l t i u2 la.2.. J ...--Ui' .
su':i fri ;ld ferry -i,-bat,. I:ut the
times were such ii:hat tlhe gove't( ntl,?i
of necessity, availed itscif of every
thing within reach that could be roen
dered servicable. It was well known
to us, at the period spoken of, that
two large and powerful iron-clad
rams were fitting out on the Roanoke
river, with a view of destroying the
small naval force in North Carolina,
and smash things generally. At the
time a joint expedition was in process
of formation, to ascend the Roanoke,
to capture Fort Branch on the way
and cut out the iron-clads or destroy
them.
Before this expedition was got in
shape, the Rebel ram Albemarle,
swept down the river without opposi
tion until reaching Plymouth. The
situation in all its force presented it
self to the two Union officers com
manding the land and naval forces in
that section.
The town of Plymouth is situated
on the left bank of the Roanoke river
about two mile above its mouth, where
it empties into Albemarle Sounds. A
few miles in the distance could be
seen" Roanoke Island, captured early
in the war by the forces under Gen.
Burnside. Had the Union forces at
Plymouth been forced to retreat they
must have done so by water.and the ad
vent of iron-clad ram, barred the way.
(Gen. Wessell, commanding the Union
forces, found himself surrounded by
land and water. Generals Branch
and Hoke of the Confederate army,
were in the rear of the town with a
large force. and the Albemarle in his
front on the river. Both the Confed
erate generals and the troops in their
command, were raised in that section.
and were familiar with every foot of
the country. If there was any way of
escaped from the place by the hemm
ed in forces it must by the capture or
destruction of tae Albermarle. To
that end the U. S. naval officer and
the small force under his command
bent all their energies. Ascending
the river in his wooden vessel to grap
ple with the iron monster, and if pos
sible, board her. The unequal fight
took place in front of Plymouth--the
combatants not twenty yards apart.
The Union commander soon discover
ed that every shot aimed at the Albe
marle had no effect, as her plating of
41 inch railroad iron, turned the mis
tles harmlessly away. To get a shot
at the Albemarle between wind and
water was the last hope. Coolly he
went to work to accomplish it and
aimed the shot, which reboluded, and
killed him where he stood. This end
ed the engagem-.ent. The Union vgs
sel got out in a crippled condition
guns dismantled, and the decks
streaming with the blood of the dead
and dying The Southfield, an old
New York ferry boat, converted into
a gun.boat, fell into the hands of the
enemy and Wessel's command made
prisoners. Such were the disasters
reported at the Division headquar
ters.
While these movements were taking
place, another force of a different na
ture was getting ready to deal with
the Confederate iron cruisers. A very
young man named Cushing, a native
of New Hampshire, and serving in
the U. S. Navy in a subordinate posi
tion, proposed a methodof putting an
end to the Rebel rams Albemarle and
Consort. His scheme was pronounced
impracticable and impossible of exe
cution. "I can do it," he said, and after
much intreaty permission was grant
ed him to address the Secretary of
the Navy in reference to his project.
Mr. Fox, the assistant secretary lent
a willing ear and placed the matter in
a favorable light before Mr. Wells,
the secretary. As everything relating
to this enterprise was mark-ed "dis
approved" by the senior officers of the
Navy, Secretary Wells hesitated in
giving his approval., Cushing stood
firm as the granite hills from which
he came, and pressed the chief of his
department with such earnestness,
that Secretary' said he would place
the matter before the President.
"Place me before the Presideit," said
Cushing: and he did,- ,President
Lincoln was at all timesaipproachable
and carried no .red tape." Promptly
the order was issued to permit Lieut.
Cushing to carry out his project.
In fifteen years service, I never saw
officer or man more oibfideit of him
self and his undertaking than Cush
ing. "I'll do it," he said, "you'll see
I'll do it,"
Hurridly a boat was got ready at
Norfolk, Va. A launch boat convert
ed into a steamer, from which no
steam, smoke or sound escaped-all
repressed by some skillful contrivance.
The armament of this boat consisted
of a howitzer, torpedo and a few small
arms. Anyother supplies or assistance
needed were to be supplyed by Capt.
''c('o',b of t:he Shamrock, then flag
hl, i: ,,e wate.rs of North Carolina.
:, r,:ach C:,!,t. McComb under the
:hen circ :aisamnes Jeemed impossi
,,... j To pass from Virginia-a part
.,f which was in our possession-into
North Carolina, and evade meeting
the enemy was no easy matter. To
this day it is unaccountable to many,
as it is to the writer, how every move
ment on land and water of ours, reach
ed the Confederate authorities. To
get over this barrier even with the few
who from necessity had any knowl
edge of the enterprise, seemed im
probable.
When all was ready, a report
was given out when the craft would
start, but a start was made 48 hours
before the time named, and in the
hazy gray of morning rounded the
small town of Edenton, N. C. Some
nondescript, as the lookout from the
vessels reported, was seen moving
along the shore. This nondescript
was Cushing and his little party,
who, when the mist cleared away,
hoisted the flag, and made for the flag
ship to report to the flag officer, Com.
McComb. Having met this gallant
officer on previous occasions, a most
warm and cordial reception was ex
tended. McComb was then in the
bey day of his life. His son accom
panied him everywhere as his secre
tary and clerk. "So you'll be just in
time for Launigan's ball," he said to
to Cushing.
There were in his command some
four or five double enders. so called
by being built to head in any direction
without turning as other steamers do.
These vessels were buiit to do service
on inland waters and pIrn ved luoot
servicable. Their arm:am ;n1t was
heavy, consisting of six, eight and
nine inch shot and shell guns, and
two swivel or pivot eleven-inch grape
and canister guns. These gun.s can
be worked with extraordinary rapidi
ty and are most effective.
From some of the officers we learn
ed that the Albomarle had come out
from her moorings at Plymouth, ac
companied by a regiment of soldiers
on other boats to witness the destruc
tion or surrender of the Yankee fleet.
The fleet, such as it was, was all
double-enders, and under command
of Cormod(re Iolanethon Smith.
Capt. Francis A. Roe, whom I had
known inin Washington in '(1i, was in
command of one of the double-enders.
He was a native of Virginia, but stood
true to the flag, and had no peer in
his branch of the service. He was
executive officer of the Pensacola, off
Alexandria, Va., when McClellan was
organizing the army of the Potomac,
in '61, and went down to the gulf with
Admiral Farragut to capture New
Orleans. More attention, 'probably,
was given to him on account of his
being a Southern man, just the same
as there was to Farragut and General
Thomas. Capt. Roe was a tall, dark,
swarthy man; a countenance and eye
like Gen. Mahone of the Confederacy.
Somehow or another with all his fine
abilities, promotion came very slow to
,him, like the the irascible Gen. Bragg.
'Twas said he was all all the time in
hot water. It appeared that when
the ram came down the Albemarle
Sounds to destroy the Yankees, Capt.
Roe rushed for him at full speed,
striking him a terrible blow, but in
doing so broke all the fore part of his
own vessel, added to which he made
an effort to grapple with the
enemy and board her. Failing in
this, he had sacks of powder on deck
to throw into the smoke stacks of the
Albemarle and blow him up. After a
terrific combat the enemy was forced
to retire, and the regiment that came
down to help capture the Yankees,
were taken prisoners, and just as they
were captured, sent to Norfolk to be
disposed of as prisoners of war.
Capt Roe did not fight his vessel
according to regulations, consequent
ly trouble sprung up between him and
the flag officer, now Admiral, and both
were removed from the scene of the
conflict, and that was how McComb
of the Shamrock, arrived to be just in
time for "Lannigan's ball." With
him and the other coihmanders there
appeared to exist complete harmony,
although with some there was no dif
ference in rank, except that conferred
by seniority. Such was the state of
things when Cushing put in an ap
pearance. A short council of war was
held, "an .everything," as Capt Mc
Nally would-say, "settled in the most
- amicable manner."
e Subsequent events shlwed that th,
Confederate forces at Plymouth were
t informed of the attempt about to be
made, and had the Albemarle en
o trenched alongside the batteries of thE
11 town, and had a number of logs secur
. ed around to prevent the full force o:
3 the anticipated blow striking her
11 Above the town, the same precaution
e were adopted, although attack was not
U. expected from that quarter. A mar
of the country showed that an attac!
was feasible from the upper side ii
ea force could be got there. The Ro
- anoke and Chowan rivers run on a
t parallel line for some distance. Be
tween the two is a considerable stream
called the Middle river, which, in
Splaces, was so torturous and narrow
that seldom, if ever, had it been
utilized previous to the time of which
I write. The stream is an arm or spur
of the Roanoke,branching offat a point
r a short distance above the town of
- Plymouth and empties into the
- Sounds between the mouth of the
Roanoke and the town of Edenton.
t The intermediate space between the
I Roanoke and the Middle rivers is an
impassible swamp. This rather
lengthy description is necessary on
Saccount of the positions of the con
tending forces and consequent results.
An attempt was made in the forenoon
to ascend the Roanoke, but was
found to be impracticable. The heavy
guns of the enemy commanded the
applroaches, and no vessel of wooden
build could breast the storm of iron
I hail that fell on all sides. McComb
backed out. falling back to his old an
chorage. There was, however, some
- thing learned of great importance.
About a mile this side of the approach
to the town of Plymouth, the old New
York ferry boat referred to in the fore
part of this article, was found to be
moored across the passage way, hav
ing on board a strong picket guard.
From each end of the craft, a number
of logs secured by chains, extended
from bank to bank.
To inTnrn hei rýlodrnnfoni n of tho
'o insure the destruction of the
Albemarle it was necessary to, capture
this craft and all on board, without
any alarm being given. That after
noon volunteers was called for to per
form the task. and so many respond
ed, that a selection had to be made.
Soon everything was in readiness, and
only waiting for the moon to retire
behind the hills. At last the small
party got on their way: the sailors
pulling with muffled oars, the soldiers
cool and steady. The torpedo boat
bringing up the rear. Silence and
darkness shook hands together. In a
short time the hull of the old South
field became visible. Nearer and
nearer, and no picket boat in sight.
A few moments more and the old fer
ry boat was in posseisson of its orig
inal owners. After the capture of the
Confederate guard, they were placed
in the hold and the hatches put down
to prevent any alarm being given. It
was a complete surprise, and augured
well for the success of the expedition.
In a few moments, the logs secured
to the Southfield were removed, and
on went Cushing and his few men to
glory or a grave. Hedging close to
the right bank of the river he careful
ly approached the Albemare. It was
then about 2 o'clock a. m.; the lights
were burning brightly in the town
and soldiers' quarters. Sentinels pac
ed up and down the wharf with
measured step, and close by lay the
doomed vessel. Now or never was
the work to be done. Down came the
avenging messenger; the middle of
the stream was reached, when the re
flection of the lights on the shore fall
ing the water, brought into view the
steam launch. The challenge came
hurriedly: "What boat is that ap
proaching?" Noanswer. Again and
again came the challenge. "You'll
know damned soon," muttered Cush
ing, and so they did.
The howitzer on the steam launch
replied to the volley of musketry; the
few guns and revolvers, ditto. But
the final answer came in the rush for
the ran; everything on board of her
became alive with motion Itswas no
use, however; Cushing, lanyard in
hand, lowered the torpedo and force
ed his little craft over the logs. The
torpedo made its way under the ram,
and there exploded with a terrific re
port.
Cushing dived under the water and
escaped to the swamp; two of his men
were killed and two taken prisoners.
Among the latter was Major Swan,
now living in New Hampshire. A few
days after the event described, the
town of Plymouth was again in our
possession and so remained until the
close of the war.
The Albemarle was raised, repaired
and sold for a large sum to a foreign
power. Plymouth was of little im
portance in itself;,but the raw might
have done as-the Merrimac did; ical
enulable damage., Her consort was not
completed when thehe curtain of rebe1l
lion fell at Apomattox. 3.
SEN. JONES' ALASKA GOLD I~INE
A Big" Bonanza in Alaska, and the
Senator on Top Again.
Letters from San Francisco anc
Alaska report that the Hon. John P
Jones, who on March 4th of this yeal
entered upon his third term as a U. S
Senator from Nevada, is once more or
the high road to fortune by virtue oi
his share in the Paris gold mine or
Douglass Island, Alaska. When Jones
was elected to the Senate in 1872, tc
succeed ex-Gov. Nye of Nevada, hE
was the, boss millionaire of the
Comstock lode, and was reputed to b:
worth some $5,000,000 as his share of
the profits of the bonanza struck in
the Crown Point mine, at that time
the richest mine on the Comstock. but
which was soon sinrpassed by the big
bonanzas of the Consolidated Virginia
and California, which gave their col
ossal fortunes to Flood & O'Brien,
Mackay, and Fair.
Like other mnon who have become
suddenly rich by a stroke of good
luck, Jones embarked in many and
varied speculations, and dropped his
money almost as rapidly as he had ac
quired it. He went into a great min
ing enterprise in Kern county, Cali
fornia, in company with ex-Senator
Stewart and the late Trenor W-. Park.
The enterprise ended in a total fail
ure and the loss of a very large amount
of money. He started the watering
place of Santa Monica, near Los An
gelos, and built a railroad which never
paid its running expenses. He built
an extravagant building for a Turk
ish bath in San Francisco, and finally
in 1879, shortly after he had entered
upon his second term in the Senate,
he invested his bottom dollar in the
delusive Sierra Nevada mine, which
was expected to rival the Consolidat
ed Virginia in the bigness of its bo
nanza.
The Sierra Nevada, at the north
end of the Comstock lode, had been
worked for several years, the assess
ments had been many and frequent,
the dividends nil. The shares had
dropped down, down, to 85 cents, when
news came that a bonanza had been
struck. The mining sharps and spec-
ulators of San Francisco had decided
that Consolidated Virginia was about
played out, and they rushed into
Sierra Nevada an ran the shares up to
$215. The higher they went the more
eager were the speculators to get in.
Even such astute mining men as
Jones, Flood, Skae, and many others
were caught. The bubble burst and
the shares dropped almost as rapidly
as they had risen. The are again down
to 75 cents. Jones' Crown Point mil
lions had changed hands, and the
mining outlook on the Pacific coast
was decidedly gloomy.
Nearly coincident with the collapse
of the Sierra Nevada boom, gold was
found by two prospectors from Sitka
in a small creek on the coast of Alas
ka, near the Indian villages of Takou
and Auk, about 150 miles northeast of
Sitka. The prospectors followed the
course of the creek up a gorge between
high and percipitous mountain to its
source in a plateau about three miles
from tide water, and there found indi
cations of surface deposits of free
gold and several promising veins of
quartz, When news of the discovery
reached Sitka it stirred up the few
white residents of that sleepy little
town, and there was a general exodus
to the new diggings. Thie pinccr and
quartz veins were quickly located and
claimed, the officers of the United
States steamship Jamestown, station
ed at Sitka, being early and eager lo
cators. They expected that when the
news reached San Francisco it would
cause an excitement there and a rush
to invest in the newly discovered gold
field. In this they were disappointed.
Mining interests in San Francisco
were under a cloud of distrust, and
the moderate and small operators
were cleaned out, and had nothing
left to invest in Alaska mines, even if
they had believed in them, which they
didn't.
The camp at Harrisburg, since
changed to Juineau, attracted only
the floating whites of Sitka and Wran
gle, with a contingent of gold hunters
from the exhausted Cassiar placers in
British Columbia. Every foot of
placer ground was staked off and
worked with more or less success, but
on the quartz lodes, which needed
capital to develope them, work was
limited to the assessment work requir
ed by law to complete the titles to the
claims. There was no capital in the
camp to pay for machinery, and none
could be had from San Francisco.
The second and third summers
brought a few recruits from San Fran
cisco, Portland and Victoria, but- they
were needy prospectors seek-ing.oea
tions that would cost not hin
Finding every promisin spot on
the placers of the uiaidland takeni up,
the new eeoentur eitheir'attetion
GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE.
.ADV RTISING RATI-.
I mont. 5I. 8.1 7. 10' 11.j i .
Smonths 7. 8. 10. 1. 2. 55.
I monthis .! 10. 1. 3o0. 15. 117.
1 Tear.... I li. 1. 31.. .. i 1 0. X70.
1iuoi oss nouoces in rsedinc man..r, 25 cents
or line.
Business noticce 15 cents per line for first in
rtion, and 10 cer,ts per line for eachsubsequent
nsertion of same matter.
to Douglass Island, which is separat
ed from the mainland by a channel a
quarter of a mile wide and navigable
for the largest steamers to Ha rrs
burg, or, as it is now called, Juinean.
Above Juineau the channel narrows
to a canor passage. Douglass Island
is about sixteen miles long, and four
or five miles wide. Its surface is bro
ken up into high hills, covered with
pine forests, which rise abruptly from
the water. Indications were found of
gold in a small stream leading up into
the hills opposite Juineau, and loca
tions were made without any very
sanguine hope that they would ever
rival in value the locations on the op
posite mainiand.
A_ Mr. Treadwell, a builder and con
tractor of San Francisco, went to Ju
inatau, partly for his healill and partly
to look at the mirning district. After
prc :sp) cting thi, m'Uning claims in the
mnanland platea:1 and on the island,
ho bought the unworked claim on the
island now known as the Paris mine,
for ~ii00. After prospecting it enough
to be entirely satisied with his pur
chase. he returned to San Francisco
and formed a partnership with four
wealthy men to own and work the
mine. The work was to be prosecuted
quietly and economically until it could
be shown that the property had a
positive value, which would warrant
the erection of large works. The joint
property was divided into six shares
Treadwell retaining one share: Col. J.
J. Fry, a former partner of Sharon,
taking one; Edward Fry one, Horace
James Freeborn two. Treadwell was
appointed manager, and returned to
the mine. Tunnelling was begun and
actively persecuted, and a small stamp
mill sent up.
SWhile this was going on a strong
party of squatters had taken possess
ion the top of the hill, had stripped it
of timber, and found a rich placer
which they claimed the right to work
on the plea that the mining location
bought by Treadwell did not cover
the placer claim. They were in the
wrong, and were tresspassers without
a shadow of right, but there was no
court in the Territory to expel them.
They were men who, whether right or
wrong, would not give up the ground
until they were forced to yield. So
they held on for more than two years.
and took off about $200,000.
Senator Jones acquired from Mr.
Freeborn one-half of his Freeborn's.
one third interest in the mine. This
will uudoubedtly make the jolly Sen
ator a rich man again. The Paris
claim covers 1,500 feet of mining
ground running parallel with the ship
channel. The ground rises up some
300 feet above the water and has been
tunnelled for a distance of 400 feet
from the water frbnt. The tunnel has
a gently rising grade down which the
ore-ladened cars descend by gravity
to a large 120-stamp mill which has
now been at work about six months.
All the mining and milling work is
above the high water level. Supplies
for the mill and mine are landed
alongside of the mill. Wood and wa
ter are abundand, and no gold-pro
ducing mine in the world is more fa
vorably situated for easy and econom
ical working.
Experts who worked for years on
the Comstock declare that the Paris
mountain covers a larger mass of ore
that can be profitably worked, than
has ever been found in the entire
Comstock lode. The popular senior
Senator from Nevada is to be con
gratul&d upon an investment which
will yidl him an income of $250,000
to $300,000 a year
The success of the Paris mine is
starting active developments upon
the adjoining properties on Douglass
Island, as well upon the hitherto neg
lected claims on the opposite main
land. Prospecting is being actively
carried on above and below Juineau.
and there is strong evidence in favor
of the belief that Alaska holds many
valuable deposits of gold, and will
soon rank as one of the largest con
tributors to the world's stock of that
precious metal.
The Grand Island (Neb.) Times
wept and turned its rules whea
Vanderbilt died.
A new Republican paparz the Tri
bune, hastappeared in Philadelphia.
The project of dividing Washing
ton Territory meets with little favor
either east or west of the -Cascades.
The deficit in the accounts of J. E.
Stitt, city trearurer of Wabash, Ind.,
is $2,900, but he stoutly maintains
that he knows nothing ofathe defalca
tion.
Tha present senior elas of.. ln
bia college, New York, propose, upon
graduation, to leave a memorialin the
shape of a $1000,000 colletg gy.n
M.i Millbank of New YorV -is
building a $%90,000 villa on th_'sf$e
of the famo `old mansio onae own
ed by Willia ' lL Tweed, at Greeu
wil onn.