We now begin to look anxiously for indications | shoots in prolific growth and carpets the earth of the land. The higher temperature of the water with its refreshing verdure. At an early hour we shows that we are in the gulf stream, and we have were again under way, and safely threading the passed the outer edge which is marked by a line narrow and intricate channel under shortened sail, of drift sea-weed. We are diagonally crossing it," majestically slow," we passed the town; and reand steering direct for Cape Henry. The current sponded to the loud cheers of our friends congrebuoys us under the lee, while, with a steady breeze gated on the wharves, by a salute from our great from North-East, we are sailing two points free at guns, whose hoarse and brazen throats made the a glorious rate. My messmates insist upon it, that welkin roar. We cast anchor a little below the the Norfolk girls have a tow-rope secured to the Navy-Yard, and when the sun dipped beneath the ship, and that they are hauling us in with a speed horizon, the sails were unbent, the running rigging proportioned to their impatience. At 11 P. M. was unrove; and down the sturdy topmasts, the we took a pilot, ninety miles from the land. The shrouds and backstays hung in most admired disprudent and the phlegmatic, aware that much is to order. be done to-morrow, have retired to rest: but the thoughtless, the sanguine, the lover of home and the votary of pleasure, are not to be enticed from the deck. The night is very different from the one on from that, which, next in the order of time, sucwhich we took our first departure. Far to sea-eeeds it. ward, the dark surface is relieved by the white caps of the waves, whose tops curl and break into sparkling foam to the East, in the midst of a bright space, which clearly indicates the line of the horizon, the moon is slowly rising: and towards the West and North-West, is a dense bank of clouds-whose tops, catching the first rays of the moon, give it the appearance of a dark mountain capped with snow. Here ends the cruise of the Amphytrion-and in the hope one day to tread her deck in battle, as firmly and successfully as she has borne me through the perils of the deep, I close my first journal to cull [We hope the writer whose pen does so much honor to the service, and credit to himself, will continue, though now absent on a distant cruise, to furnish us with "Extracts." They are ably written, and the incidents are told in the most agreeable manner.]—Ed. Mess. In that direction lies the land, ON THE DEATH OF G. CONRAD MECKE. BY ANNA CORA MOWATT. Hushed is the glee that through these old walls rung! Earth holds one angel less-hath, mourning, given One seraph more, to swell the choir of Heaven! which, by the wise providence of its Maker, re- That not for earth thy peerless beauty grew: sun. Thy head upon her heart was pillow'd--she Shed thou new radiance round their darkened hearth, The soft winds of Spring are wooing Na-Give to her smileless lip its wonted mirth, ture to assume her green and fragrant livery; and Relume her dark eyes' faded lustre-throw the long dormant vegetation revivified by the heat, Religion's light around her shadowed brow, The promise of their sure reunion speak, And dry the tear that channels her smooth cheek! few Atlantic States, of all the local advantages to be derived from the Navy-such as the establishment of Dock-Yards-the building of ships-the opening of rendezvous-and the annual disbursement of millions out of the public treasury, &c.— I wish to call their attention also to the fact, that both the South and the West possess advantages, and afford facilities for national Depots, DockYards, and other Naval establishments, second in importance to none others in the Union. I wish also to show, that such establishments are not only required by the interests of the South and the [The literature of our pages belongs to the Republic of West-but that a speedy location of them is absoLetters-the Navy of our Country to THE Republic of Free-lutely demanded for the welfare, safety and honor men. We have the improvement of the one, as much at of the whole country. To turn their thoughts forever more to Heaven! EDITORIAL REMARKS. heart, as the advancement of the other. Our columns are Virginia established at her own expense, the open to the officers of the Navy; and we here again repeat Navy-Yard at Gosport; and in 1800 ceded it to our invitation to them, to discuss the measures and means for putting the Navy on a proper footing. We have hoisted the United States, on condition that the General the flag of REFORM TO THE NAVY,' and nailed it to the Government should maintain there a Navy-Yard mast. Under it we mean to fight as long as there is a forever. In this manner was acquired the only Scrap in the Lucky-Bag,' or, as a sailor would say, 'a shot building Navy yard, which to this day is possessed in the Locker.' to the South of Mason & Dixon's line. In colonial times, it was said, that not so much of the water. In later years, and with regard to the Navy, it has been proclaimed in effect-for the policy has been practically carried out that not even a scupper nail or a pump tack shall be furnished to the Navy at the South. The points mooted in the letters below are of moment to the whole Country, and of especial interest to the South and West. A share of public patronage is due there. We as a 'hob nail' should be manufactured on this side claim it for them, and bid them look to it, as they value their own welfare, and love their own interest. Let the press in those sections take up the subject; and our word for it, not only will the people of the South, but those of the Mississippi Valley, in its whole length and breadth, demand, with one voice, the measures here proposed. We can do no more in this matter, than hoist the signal.' The local, press must do all the fighting. We call upon every paper in the South and West, that is friendly to the Navy, that is true to its Country and itself, to 'elear away its battery,' and stand to its guns; to keep this subject before the people, and to second the laudable efforts of our correspondent,—for we take it for granted, that as to the measures advocated by him, there can be but one opinion.]-Ed. Sou. Lat. Mess. No. I. COUNCIL BLUFF, July 15, 1841. TO MR. CLAY. SIR, a Does a vessel of the West-India squadron have sheet of copper ripped from her bottom? she must come to the North to have it nailed on. Do a few oysters fasten themselves there? she must come to the North to have them scraped off. Her crew becomes a few hands short by death and desertion? she leaves hundreds of able bodied seamen loitering in the streets of Mobile and NewOrleans, and passes by others in Charleston, on her way to the North to ship a score of men. Does she want repairs of any kind? she is sent to the North to have them done. The time of her crew expires-she hastens to the North to pay them off and discharge I address you, not as a politician, whig, or party them, that they too may spend their money at the man, of any sort; but as an American statesman, right place. Shipping rendezvous opened for seamen whose mind is filled, and whose heart is warmed, at Charleston, Mobile and New-Orleans, would sapwith true notions of government—as one who loves ply the whole West-India squadron with able bodied his country, is true to its constitution, who knows men, and save many a 'good tall fellow' whom the his duty, and will not fail to act well the part of Summer pestilence destroys in those cities. A renstatesman and patriot in the great national drama.dezvous at Natchez, Louisville, Cincinnati and St. You have been ready at all times to maintain Louis, would furnish the same squadron with an amabroad the honor and dignity of your country-and ple complement of landsmen, marines, apprentices you have ever stood forth as the great champion of and boys, who might be paid off at the South-spend Southern and Western interests at home; and so their money at the South-and thus save the time far as the Navy may support the one, or advance and expense of these frequent trips to the North. the other, I wish to call not only your attention, Why should not Pensacola be provided with all the but the attention of every freeman in the South facilities of building and repairing? That she is and the West to certain measures connected with not, is but an illustration of the hob-nail vassalage, the Navy, that are near, and should be dear to them. which, to this day, as far as the Navy is concerned, I wish, through you, to call their attention to the the South is required to render to the North. monopoly, which has hitherto been enjoyed by a From Virginia to New-Hampshire, more than one hundred millions of dollars out of the public | in England. The American vessel, built of native treasury have been disbursed for the Navy, since timber, cost $333,000, or upwards of $460 per the war-never a cent in the West, and if we ex-ton;-the English vessel, built of imported timber, cept a paltry sum at Pensacola, scarce a dollar in chargeable with a duty varying from 100 to 500 the South. Proud of the Navy, and mindful of the per cent., cost, completely armed and rigged for sea, national dignity and honor, never a murmur from £54,024,* or less than $240 a ton. The English the West, has been raised against this partial dis- have their timber to buy and import; we have it tribution of the public bounty. for the cutting down, and with these advantages But times have changed. By the revolution it costs $460 a ton, to build war-steamers in the which the powers of steam are effecting in the Eastern States. Are Mississippi steamboats built means of maritime warfare, the Mississippi boat- at this rate? You know they are not. A Dockmen will be to the Navy in the next war, what Yard there for war-steamers, would beget a lauour Marblehead seamen were in the last. And, dable spirit of emulation between the West and the are the yeomen of the West less brave and patriotic, East. With such an establishment, properly conthe Southrons less loyal and true, than their breth- ducted, we should find, that we can build in the ren at the North, that they should be excluded from West-if we cannot in the East, at least as cheaply the Navy-shut out from its honors in war, and its as they can in England. benefits in peace? Greater than all these partial benefits, would be the national advantages to be derived by introducing the Navy in the West. Her sons would man our vessels sailing thence; popular prejudices against the Navy and the sailor's calling, would be I beseech your attention to this subject; for I hope to show that justice to the West, as well as the common weal of all the States, require that certain Naval establishments and means of defence, should be connected with the waters of the Missis-removed; and by the force of habit and associasippi. If I succeed in doing this, I further hope that you will take up the subject in your capacity as an American statesman and legislator-not upon party grounds or sectional interests, but upon the broad grounds of the necessities, the honor and welfare of the State. First then, I beg leave to call your attention to the 'Scraps,' published, from time to time, in the Southern Literary Messenger, from the "LuckyBag of Harry Bluff." That writer advises the establishment on the Mississippi, of a National Dock-Yard for steamers; and urges important considerations in favor of the measure. tion, there would be rendered available to the country in war, the services of eight or ten thousand Western watermen, who would man our armed steamers far more efficiently than the seamen of the East. It is important to gain over from these men, predilections for the Navy; and this can only be done by creating, as it were, a Navy in the midst of them; enlisting their sons, brothers, friends and neighbors, in the service; and by affording them all, frequent opportunities of going on board, and otherwise being in contact with, the public vessels. Tennessee is the fifth State in the Union. ConMemphis, Tennessee, is the most suitable place sidering the breakwaters and seawalls, the forts for such an establishment. The draft of water and castles, the coast surveys, Navy-Yards, harthence to the Gulf, is at all times sufficient for the bor defences, and the like, that abound in the passage of the boats to and fro. The river there Eastern States,-that many millions of a common is never blocked with ice. The location is healthy. fund have been disbursed even in the smallest of It is high enough up to be secure from invasion, or those States, that scarcely a dollar of this fund, molestation by an enemy. It is at the corner of finds its way to Tennessee, Mississippi, et al.— three States, all of which are alike interested in, considering, I say, all these things, the preference and would be equally benefited, by such an estab-given to Tennessee will appear but just, even were lishment. there in other States twenty other places, as there Instead of carrying the live-oak from Louisiana is not one, as suitable as Memphis for the Dockto New-York or Boston, for building steamers, as Yard of the West. we now do, it could then be carried at half the cost, and only one-sixth the distance, to Memphis. A national Dock-Yard there, would open a market UNION JACK. No. II. COUNCIL BLUFF, July 15, 1841. for the hemp of Kentucky-the coal of Pennsyl- TO MR. CLAY. vania-the pork of Ohio-the beef of Illinois SIR, the flour of Michigan-the copper of Iowa-the Having consulted economy, and the interests of lead of Missouri,—and for the iron, the mechani- the Navy, and therefore of the nation, by estabcal skill and agricultural products, of all these States. The United States Steamer Fulton of 720 tons, and H. B. M. Steamer Cyclops of 1,195 tons, were the first steam men-of-war built in this country and lishing a Dock-Yard for steamers amidst the resources of the West, and at a convenient point to the Gulf of Mexico, which is to be the cockpit for the pitched battles of Yankee tars in the next war; * £54,024; p. 67 Miles' Royal Naval Service. and having moreover acknowledged the claims of justice by placing that Yard in Tennessee, you must go a step further, and advocate the founding there also of a Naval Academy. They would make an annual cruise of three months at sea, in vessels manned by themselves, for the purpose of putting in practice, by way of relaxation, the principles of what they had been taught at the Dock-Yard. These cruises might sometimes be made in a steamer, and sometimes in an old-fashioned ship, with her wings of cotton and hemp: when in the latter, the Midshipmen could go in the former to the New-Orleans bar, or to Pensacola, for embarkation. The knowledge of steam machinery and navigation carried by them into those occupations, would prevent many of the losses and calamities by sea and river, which are now of such frequent occurrence; and which you are striving in vain by le checking the frightful loss of life and property, which now occurs through carelessness or ignorance, they would render their country services in another respect, not less important. The East has its Military Academy. The most effectual means of allaying the popular clamor, which, in remote parts of the country, you have heard raised from time to time against that noble institution, is to offset it with a similar one for the Navy in the West. By being placed in opposite sections of the country, one would give stability to the other. If the number of pupils graduating annually, A writer in one of the periodicals of the day, should be more than sufficient—and I think it should has urged, at great length, the establishment of a be-to supply the vacancies in the Navy, the superschool-ship for the Navy. Though the school-ship numeraries should be encouraged to seek-where appears to me to have been advocated by him solely they doubtless would find-ready and profitable emon the grounds of expediency-Congress having ployment to their country and themselves, either failed to endow a school on shore. For my own in the river-boats, ocean-steamers, or ships of the part, I should be glad to see, and should hail with commercial marine. delight, the establishment of a school any where for the Navy-even on the top of the Rocky Mountains. From thence, as the king Penguins do their young, the Reefers' could be marched down to 'salt water' once a year, and be taught to put into practice the theories they had learned in the rookery.gislative action to prevent. There is no doubt, that the Navy would derive Besides promoting the interests of humanity, and many important and lasting advantages from a school, wherever placed, for the education of its officers. There may be much diversity of honest opinion as to the most suitable place for a Naval Academy. Many officers of sound judgment, think the vicinity of salt water' indispensable to a flourishing Naval School; and but for the importance which steam is assuming in ocean navigation, it would perhaps be considered important by all, that the seat of education for the Navy, should be near the sea. But considering that steam is to become a great motive-power in ships-of-war, the study of By way of Illustration: Suppose this country at its principles, application and machinery, must ne-war with one of the maritime nations of Europe. cessarily form an indispensable part of the educa- What with Baltimore Clippers, Packets, Bay and tion of every well instructed Navy officer. There- Lake Steamers-Men-of-War on the stocks, and fore this school should be near the Dock-Yard of to be built, it could, in the course of eighteen or twenMemphis, where all the requisite facilities for ac- ty months, have two or three hundred vessels-of-war quiring this knowledge could alone be afforded. afloat. Where would the requisite number of well In the opinion of those who have reflected ma-trained and skilful officers be obtained for this force! turely on the subject, no more Midshipmen should be admitted in the Navy than are required to fill vacancies; and these should be promoted as soon as qualified after seven years of service--four years of which, except three months of each year, should be devoted to the academic course; the remainder of the time should be spent at sea. Three years then would be the time actually allowed for instructing the pupils in the theory of their profession, and making them acquainted with the steam engine. At the Memphis Yard they would see the machinery built, put together, set to work, and taken down. There, and only there, the structure, management, internal arrangements of engine and boilers, would be constantly before them both for study and for practice. The advantages of their nautical education— their early taste of military life, and habits of subordination, would render these supernumerary graduates a valuable "corps of reserve;" from which, in case of necessity, the Navy could at once be supplied with a full war-complement of well trained and skilful officers. And at the cessation of hostilities, what is to be done with the vast number of supernumerary officers the government would find in its employ The turning of them adrift upon the cold charities of the world, and after they had bravely fought, and shed their blood, for their country, would be a difficult task, and an ungrateful office. A well appointed 'corps of reserve' would serve both as bane and antidote of this. It would supply the service with officers in war; and at the retura of peace, their former and more lucrative employ ments in the ship-master's line would be open to them—and at most, it would require no great effort on the part of the government, to induce them again to seek the command of merchant vessels. But Harry Bluff has treated at large upon this subject; the scheme is his; and to him, I therefore | ries in time of peace, and when required for war, beg leave to refer for a more detailed account of the the vessels to be turned over to the United States advantages of such an arrangement. at a par valuation. Connected with the Academy at Memphis, should In the School of Engineers at Memphis, the enbe a School of Engineers for Naval Apprentices.gineers of these boats might also be educated. Here the engineers of the public steam-vessels At this stage of the business, and in times of should be educated. After the Navy had been peace, it is clearly against our policy and interest supplied with its due complement of these, the re- to maintain abroad our squadrons of war-steamers. maining graduates from this school, could be en-At present, we have no other employment for them, couraged to seek and doubtless they would readily than such as may be required of them in the Westfind-employment as engineers in the river-boats, Indies, or along our own coast, as vessels of the and ocean-steamers. And upon these also, the Home squadron,' and,-a -as a part of it-of the reNavy could rely, for skilful engineers for the extra venue service. steamers that would be called in the service in time of war,-when of course, many of the mercantile vessels in which they had before served, would be transferred to the government, or laid up from the want of employment. If then we are to build steamers, and lay them up to rot, as we have our line-of-battle ships, it would be a wise measure in political economy to let responsible merchants have the free use of all such steamers, on condition that they should be In connection with this subject, I shall invite employed in the commerce of the country, be kept your attention to another matter of vast importance in repair, and turned over to the government when to this country. France and England are gain- required. How much better then, to assist the ing great Naval and commercial strength, by the merchant to build these vessels, with the privilege encouragement which they give to ocean-steam-of buying them at any time thereafter! ers. Under the wise and liberal policy of these two nations, their citizens are preparing to make a net-work on every ocean, and even to girdle the earth about, with their lines of steam-packets. Are you aware of the fact, that the Great Western was not allowed to take out her papers, until her owners had given the government bond and security, to transfer her over to the Crown, in case of war? They all do the same; for which certain considerations are allowed in hand; and others guarantied, in case the Crown requires the services of these vessels. Constructed with an eye to war, and maintained at private cost, (for the Crown is fully reimbursed for its portion of the expense,) England has now, or soon will have, a force of not less than fifty steam-frigates, with which her citizens are carrying on a profitable commerce with her friends in peace, and with which she is ready to do battle with her enemies in war. Give but a decent encouragement to the wellknown industry and enterprise of American citizens, and fleets of ocean-steamers will speedily go forth under the stars and stripes' to out-do the lion and the cross,' with commerce in peace, and to match them, with their guns in war. As a matter of economy, there are strong reasons for having our reserved steamers-i. e. such as would be wanted only in case of war-built and owned by individuals, and employed in the manner proposed, until they be required for the purposes of the government. The United States Steamer Fulton cost $333,000. Such a vessel can be built in the private yards for $150,000. Should the payment of one-fifth afford sufficient encouragement to private builders-and I think it would-the enormous cost of this one public vessel would be enough to call into existence, and render available for the purposes of war, eleven such. An appropriation of half a million annually, for the encouragement of ocean-steamers on the plan proposed, would, in the course of ten years,—if the wants of commerce would justify it-create a fleet of not less than one hundred and fifty steamfrigates-of-war. To render available five or six 74's, that are already rotten, or are rotting at their moorings, has cost more than this;--and as it has turned out, Cui bono?' for they have not been employed, either by individuals or the public-either for commerce, or protection. The Navy Commissioners have expressed their opinion, that in the course of a few years forty It were wise, therefore, for the government to steam-frigates will be required in the Navy-which agree to pay one-fifth, or more, of the prime cost of will cost, say they, upwards of thirteen millions of ocean-steamers over tons, and that could carry dollars. Mark the difference-under the present fuel and provisions enough to keep the sea over system, it will cost at least six millions, every three days. In other words, that should pass a board of years to repair these vessels-enough to keep perinspectors, appointed for the purpose. In conside-petually in repair not less than 150 such, if used ration of which, the owners should be bound to as packets in peace. have these steamers commanded and navigated by I have just seen the report of Mr. King from government officers-to allow the government the the Committee on Naval Affairs, and shall press privilege (to be availed of or not) of maintaining this subject no further. on board number of guns and supernumera UNION JACK. |