10 A
MONDAY. FEBRUARY 18. 1963
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFCRD. OREGON
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Your Money's
Worth
By SYLVIA PORTER
Copyright, Hall Syndicate, Inc.
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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
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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.
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