Abo»c II
о
drawing of the Confederate blockade runner. "The
Hope," one of the hundred! which put into Wilmington At right
it
о кепе
oboard a Federal blocking .ettel guarding New
Inlet, in New Honoeer County.
vessel, the captain received 10 per cent
of the prize. When the •’Hope" was
captured by the tug ‘'Eolus" off Wil¬
mington Oct. 22. 1864. the acting mas¬
ter of the “Eolus” won $13,164.85
for the day's work. The assistant engi¬
neer got $6,657, equivalent to four
years’ pay. The seamen were awarded
over $1,000 apiece, and the cabin boy,
whose pay was less than $2.50 a week,
received $532.60.
News of such captures whetted the
appetite of blockaders and made them
more alert and reckless. Nine days
after the "Eolus" made this haul, she
made an even larger one, capturing
the steamer “Lady Sterling" with a
cargo of $500,000. Each seaman got
$2.000 to add to the $1.000 he al¬
ready had pocketed.
Earlier (July 1862), the USS "Mag¬
nolia" overhauled the "Memphis.”
carrying cotton and resin worth over
half a million. A lieutenant on the
"Magnolia" received $38,318.55 for
his share, a fortune worth perhaps 10
times that much at today’s prices.
No less than 1,600 blockade run¬
ners were claimed by the Federal
navy, and of that number half were
condemned and sold at auction. They
brought more than $25.000,000, half
of it going to the capturing crews.
Many of the vessels, of course, were
destroyed upon capture, or run upon
the beach, and yielded the captors
nothing.
Strangely enough, hope of reward
money not only helped the blockaders
capture vessels; it also helped the Con¬
federates. Because there can be no
doubt that in many instances pursuers
Starts FASTER
to EASE PAIN
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Manor
fevralgia • Arthritic
Muscular * Rheumatic
Aches
Pains
withheld their most destructive fire so
as to preserve the quarry intact. They
knew that if the vessel was run onto
the shoals or set afire they would get
nothing for their pains.
Thus avarice at once hurt and
helped the dangerous game of the
blockade runners.
For their part, the ship owners,
usually Britishers, did all they could
to minimize the booty. Attorneys for
the owners drew out the condemna¬
tion proceedings as long as they could,
adding legal fee upon legal fee. every
dollar of which cut down on the net
amount to be had by the Federal of¬
ficers and sailors.
ATLANTIC VIEW HOTEL
SCOTTIE’S RESTAURANT
Good Food
Го» О.м 2»
Yon
w. "Scenic" Giboofi. Prop.
РЬоо»
2721 HATTP.RAS, N. C.
Member of N. C. Quality Rewauranu
and National Rcitaurani AuoclaUoo
Prize money was a factor in the
intrepidity and ingenuity of sailors
during the Civil War. It added a ma¬
terial zest to the duties of the fleet
blockading Wilmington.
For example, captors of a Con¬
federate vessel got half the worth of
ship and cargo, and since blockade-
runners were heavily loaded with valu¬
able goods, almost any capture was
a rich one.
If the seizure was made by a single
Races
With
BIG
Stakes
By
BILL SHARPE
