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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 1963)
10 A MONDAY. FEBRUARY 18. 1963 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFCRD. OREGON ft - glvie-wah: Your Money's Worth By SYLVIA PORTER Copyright, Hall Syndicate, Inc. ore "Get Acauainte f jnv" 'Tais r-irtterifV i";'rmii litfci-'-'V-f mx;&hUM..imJ 5" 1 -ttKS: 14 IYVIW1 !- - -.1 - jaw u SHORT SUPREMACY - Confederate naval supremacy on the Mississippi river between Vicksburg and Port Hudson lasted just 24 hours in February, 18U3, thanks to the "Black Terror" built by Rear Adm. David D. Porter. In clashes wih' Confederate naval units, four Union vessels had been lost, so Porter resorted to the building of a dum my "Monitor." The "ship" was an old coal barge lengthened with log crafts to 300 feet. Two wheelhouscs were added as were a number of log "guns." Two smoke stacks made of pork barrels with tar pots be neath them were the finishing touch. A sail or then painted "Deluded People, Cave In" on one of the whcelhouses. The trick work ed and the Union regained its supremacy. Above is a drawing of the "Black Terror" in action. (UPI) Fighting on the Mississippi By MERTON T. AKERS UPI Correspondent Confederate naval suprema cy on the Mississippi River t between Vicksburg and Port ; Hudson lasted just 24 hours in February 1883, thanks to ' Union Rear Admiral David ' D. Porter and his "Black Ter : ror." One of the chief actors in : Porter's serio comedy was - the Federal ironclad, Indian ola. Another was the Queen of the West, a Union ram. They, plus the "Black Ter ror" and assorted Confeder ate gunboats, were fighting to control the river as Maj. Gen. U, S. Grant maneuvered his army Into position to as sault Vicksburg, Miss., the South's fortress corking the river. The fight started Feb. 3, ' 1863 and lasted most of the month. That night Porter, com mander of the Union river fleet, sent the Queen of the West down-river from above Vicksburg on a raiding expe dition. The Queen was command ed by Col. Charles R. Elict, who was only 19 years old. His orders called tor the Queen not only to run past the Vicksburg batteries, a for midable risk in itself, but also to stop under the guns and destroy a Confederate steam er, the Vicksburg, at the wharf. . Hit Three Timet Ellet shored up the Queen with two layers of cotton bales and set off down the .. river. The Queen was hit three ; times but turned toward shore to ram the Vicksburg. Just as she was about to hit the steamer, the current swung her stern around and the blow was a glancing one. : Shells from the Vicksburg set the cotton on the Queen : .-afire. Ellet shot fireballs Into the steamer and set It afire. Then the Queen drew off and steamed downriver to the mouth of the Red, hit a dozen times but not seriously dam . aged. : On the Red River the Queen , burned three Confederate sup ply ships loaded with pork molasses, sugar and military supplies. Hearing of more sup plies farther up river, Ellet steamed toward them. Round ing a bend, the Queen ran aground under a four gun Confederate battery. The battery blazed away at this sitting duck and one shot hit a steam pipe. The crew fled before the scalding steam, took to the boats and cotton bales and floated down to the DeSoto, a tender, leaving the Queen little damaged but in the hands of the enemy. The DeSoto also went aground and Ellet transferred to the Era No. 5, a captured supply boat. The Era, draw ing only two feet of water, also grounded soon after re entering the Mississippi. Three of his ships having grounded, Ellet finally be came suspicious and arrested his substitute pilot, Thomas W. Garvey. The disloyal sentiments openly expressed by Mr. Gar vey . . . rendered it necessary for me to place him under ar rest, and forced upon me the unwilling conviction that the loss of the Queen was due to the deliberate treachery of her pilot," Ellet reported to Porter, somewhat belatedly Now the Indlanola steamed Into the picture. Cumbersome Ship ' Captained by Lt. Cmdr. George Brown, a 28-year-old Indianan, the Indianola was formibable but slow and cumbersome ship. She mount ed two 11-inch rifled Duhl- grcn guns in a casemate on the bow. On the stern was another casemate mounting two 0-inch Dahlgrens. On the night of Fob. 13. Brown started down the riv er with the unwicdly Indian ola, made even harder to steer by coal barges lashed to each side. On the morning of Feb. 16 Brown met Ellet below Natch ez, Miss., and together the Indianola and the Era return ed to the Med River. Unable to find a pilot, they blockaded the Red for four days and then THIS TT7 TT?T The Flag -w Flies Honor of... - fJ Veteran Kenneth i M- i - J Adams jf "Juit off Jecktonville Highway" MEMORIAL PARK FUNERAL HOME WEDDING CHAPEl COLUMBARIUM 1395 Arnold lane MAUSOLEUM CREMATIONS Phone 773-7338 started back up the Missis sippi. At 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 24 Brown sighted four Confed erate ships trailing him. Still dragging the coal barges Brown turned the Indianola toward his pursuers. They were the Queen of the West, now repaired and back In action under the Stars and Bars, the William H Webb, a speedy cotton clad ram, and two steamers. "The Queen was the first to strike us," Brown report ed later to Porter, "which she did after passing through the coal barge lashed to our port side, doing us no serious damage. Next came the Wil liam H. Webb. I stood for her at full speed; both ves sels came together bows on, with a tremendous crash, which knocked down every one on board both vessels, doing no damage to us, while the Webb's bow was cut in t least eight feet . . ." The Webb hit the Indian- ola's starboard coal barge and men stove in the Daddle wheel on that side. Another blow on the stern of the In- ui.uiuia ici me waier pour in. I hat was enough for Brown. He beached his iron clad on the Louisiana side of the river and surrendered. The battle had lasted one hour and 27 minutes. The Confederates towed the Indianola across the river and anchored her near the plan tation of Joseph Davis, elder brother of President Jeffer son Davis. Then she sank in 10 feet of water. Salvage operations started immediately for in armament alone the Indianola was a rich prize. When Porter got word that the Indianola had been cap tured along with the Queen and the DeSoto, he resorted to strategem instead of sending down more ships. In 12 hours his men built the "Black Terror." On an old coal barge lengthened with log rafts to 300 feet, they fastened two whcelhouses and built a log casemate brilsling with log guns" poking out of its ports. Two "smokestacks" made of pork barrels piled atop one another with tar pots beneath were built. The dummy "monitor" was com plctc to boats hanging in the davits and the Stars and Stripes flying from a flag pole on the stern and a skull and cross bones forward. Then the whole structure was coated with tar. Sonic sailor with a sciue of humor painted "Deluded People, Cave In" on one of the wheel houses. On the night of Feb. 25, the "monitor" was towed to a point above Vicksburg, the tar pots under the "smoke stacks" lighted, and it was set adrift. Down the river it came un der the Vicksburg batteries. The gunners blamed away but without effect. T w i c c it grounded on the west bank and each time Union soldiers pushed it back into tilt cur rent. Serenely it sailed down the river, its ' guns'' silent as if in contempt of the Confed erate batteries. The Queen of the West was coining up the river for sal vage equipment to r.use the Indianola when it sighted the "Black Terror." It was just dawn and the monster loom ed large in the half light. Tile Queen turned and fled downriver. Far down she reached the Indianola. gave the word that the ' Black Terror" was com ing and kept right on going Hastily the Confederates blew up the Indianola. lis big ; guns were placed muzzle to I muzzle and fired. I And with the Queen went ! the one-day supremacy of the l river. HOW TO SAVE ON TAXES XI Employee's Office-At-Home Deductions If you're among the many salesmen, executives, other employees who must do work at home as part of your job, you are vitally affected by the specific guides the Treasury issued last year on deducting part of your home expenses as business expenses. These new rules explain both the circumstances un der which you can claim a deduction and how much of the cost of your office-at-home is deductible. First, as an employee, you can't claim any deduction for office-at-home expenses unless your job requires you to provide your own space and facilities for doing some or all of your work and you do this work at home regularly. Voluntary, occasional or incidental use of your home as an office will not justify any deductions. For instance, say you are a western sales representa tive for a New York firm which has no office in your territory and your job requires you to submit reports regu larly. You are clearly required to provide your own space and facilities. Preparing these reports in your home entitles you to deduct part of your home expenses as a business expense because you meet the two tests: "Your job requires you to furnish your own space and facilities, and you use your home regularly for this purpose. On the other hand, say you are a sales manager who must submit a daily sales report. Ordinarily, you finish this in your empolyer'i otfice, but occasionally you can't complete it before the office closes and every one must leave, so you finish your report at home. You can't claim any home expenses, says the Treasury, be cause you use your home as an office only incidentally and occasionally instead of regularly. Let's assume your job clearly requires you to use your home regularly for all or part of your work. Here's how to figure out how much of your over-all home expenses are deductible. You can deduct in full interest on your mortgage and realeslate taxes; there's no problem here. You also can deduct a portion of your rent payment (if you rent the apartment or house), your electricity bills, gas bills, etc. You can deduct the cost of repairs, painting, etc., for the room you use as an office. If you own your own home and paint the outside of the house or repair the roof, you can allocate part of this expense to the room you use as an office and deduct it. You can also allocate part of depreciation on your house as an expense and deduct it in part as a business expense be cause of the room you use as an office. You cannot, though, deduct any part of the cost of repairs made to a bedroom or other room used exclusively for personal reasons, or any part of what you spend for lawn care and landscaping. says the Treasury. After you figure out which of your home expenses may be allocated in part to your office, your next step is to make the allocations. A space comparison is a common way to do this. For instance, if you use one room out of six or use 200 square feet of space out of 1,200 square feet, you can deduct one-sixth of the expenses. The Treasury permits you also to use any other reasonable method of allocation. If you do your work at home in a den or other room which is suitable lor personal use as well, the Treasury rules that you must cut your deductible office-at-home expenses to the ratio of time you use the room out of 24 hours. This is the tough part of the guides. The above guides were issued by the Treasury to cover employees, but they would appear to apply equally to self employed persons. As a dentist, physician, lawyer, other self-employed individual with an office or part-time office at home, you are also entitled to deduct a portion of your home expenses. In certain situations as a self-employed per son, you might also be entitled to deduct part of your lawn and landscaping costs. Next: Expense account records for 1963. WE GIVE THRIFTY GREEN STAMPS AND REDEEM THEM FOR CASH! From Your Friendly MARK'S Sixth and Grape Limit Rights Reserved NO SALES TO DEALERS LOTS OF FREE PARKING TASTY BRAND large Bologna Any Size Piece VET'S 000 FOOD No. 1 tall tin Dennis the Menace Jr " " - - F- n I Mello West reestone Peaches -AppIC SCIUCe Pheasant Brand Hunt's Fruit Cocktail SpOm Spread New Deviled Spread-3-oz it J Tin 19C 303 Tin 1 Qc 300 Tin . for DA0! COME See MOW PRETTY IT 1CDKS WHEN W OTlNHER IS ON ALL NIGHT' Funds running low? 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