227 



for them ; Mid a pnblic hall, a library, courses 

 of lectures, concerts, the organization of a fine 

 band of music, formed entirely from his own 

 workmen, to whom he presented a superb set 

 of musical instruments, and of a military com- 

 pany of his operatives, provided by him with a 

 tasteful uniform, and otherwise treated with 

 great liberality, were among the methods by 

 which he demonstrated his sympathy with the 

 sons of toil. 



But Col. Colt's claims to distinction, as an 

 inventor, do not rest solely on his inventions of 

 firearms. His submarine lattery, the powers 

 of which have been repeatedly tested iu the 

 presence of distinguished naval officers, is prob- 

 ably the most destructive weapon of defence, 

 and the most effective protector of harbors 

 against maritime attacks ever devised. Among 

 the inventors of the submarine telegraph cable, 

 too, a distinguished place belongs to him, he 

 having laid and operated with perfect success, 

 in 1843, such a cable from Coney Island and 

 Fire Island to the City of Xew York, and from 

 the Merchants' Exchange to the mouth of the 

 harbor. This cable was insulated by being 

 covered with a combination of cotton yarn with 

 asphaltum and beeswax, and the whole en- 

 closed in a lead pipe, gutta percha being then 

 unknown. A portion of it is still in existence. 

 He married in 1855 Miss Elizabeth Jarvis, 

 daughter of Rev. Dr. Jarvis, of Portland, Conn., 

 who survives him. 



COMMERCE. The commerce of the United 

 States for the past year has been, through the 

 operation of tne war, shorn of its proportions, 

 and. on the whole, far from profitable. The 

 leading features of the year 1861, when the 

 several relations of trade were violently broken, 

 and produce, turned from its accustomed mar- 

 kets, was suddenly forced into new channels, 

 have, in 1862, been more strongly marked, 

 : -rated as they are by the growing evils 

 connected with the currency and the damage 

 done on the ocean by cruisers of the enemy. 

 The nations of Europe, as well as the English, 

 began at the close of 1861 to feel the want of 

 cotton in a most urgent manner, and their rep- 

 resentatives at Washington expressed to the 

 Government informally the desire for some 

 relaxation of the blockade which should permit 

 the egress of that article. This desire induced 

 greater exertion on the part of the executive to 

 hasten a movement of troops, which should 

 bring within the control of the national arms 

 such tracts of country as allowed a reopening 

 of the trade. The advance into Kentucky and 

 Tennessee in January and February, opening 

 the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, on these 

 grounds excited great hopes, which wore, how- 

 ever, not fulfilled. The Confederates when 

 driven back ordered the destruction by fire of 

 all cotton and tobacco likely to fall into the 

 hands of the Federals, and this was carried out 

 to some extent. When the Tennessee region 

 was '' reopened," therefore, very little cotton 

 was found. The disposition, that might have 



existed on the part of the planters to bring for- 

 ward their crops was checked by the want of 

 protection to private interests, and the com- 

 plicity of commanders in private cotton specula- 

 tions in a manner incompatible with general 

 business interests. There was a great want of 

 money in all that region, and the good prices 

 that cotton commanded in specie at first pro- 

 duced a little business, which drew upon the 

 resources of the West for specie to meet its re- 

 quirements. This growing confidence was 

 suddenly blasted, by an order from Gen. Curtis 

 that specie should not be paid for cotton, as if 

 specie could have any more important function 

 than to procure that cotton, for the want of 

 which so many mills were idle, and so many 

 persons out of employ. The order was subse- 

 quently rescinded, but the mischief was done, 

 and the cotton trade killed. As the troops 

 progressed, the Secretary of the Treasury issued 

 special licenses, March 29th, for commercial in- 

 tercourse under the Act of July, 1861, which 

 prohibits shipments from those ports of the 

 United States heretofore declared by the Presi- 

 dent to be in insurrection, without a written 

 permit. The licenses did not extend further 

 than Xashville and intermediate points. Xoth- 

 ing shipped under them was to be disposed of 

 to persons in arms against the United States, 

 or to others furnishing them aid and comfort. 

 An order was also issued for the restoration 

 of the mail service between Boonesville, Mo., 

 and Independence, which was suspended in 

 December, in consequence of the war. Soon 

 after the Secretary of the Treasury issued 

 instructions to the Treasury agents, collect- 

 ors and surveyors, on the Ohio and Missis- 

 sippi rivers, dispensing with applications to 

 the Secretary for licenses to trade, and author- 

 izing the shipment of all goods not intended for 

 aid to the enemy, to all places occupied by 

 Federal forces in the valley States. A little re- 

 newed business followed these regulations, but 

 the regions designated in them, being deprived 

 of their produce, had no means of payment. 

 The little cotton bought by the army specula- 

 tors did not add to the business means of the 

 section. Down to the llth of May. permits 

 were granted for the shipment from Nashville 

 of 3,512 bales of cotton. To this amount may 

 be added from 50 to 100 bales shipped by out- 

 siders. The whole amount shipped from the 

 llth of March, when trade was opened, may 

 be set down at not less than and probably 

 something over 3,600 bales. From two to 

 three thousand bales were burnt by the Con- 

 federate troops chiefly in Giles county, Tenn. 

 At the close of April the expedition to the 

 Atlantic coast had opened some ports, but 

 failed to elicit any trade. The fall of Xew 

 Orleans, however, awakened the greatest hopes, 

 and the occasion was at once seized by the 

 Government to invite trade. Mr. C. L. La- 

 throp was appointed collector at that port, 

 and the following circulars were addressed to 

 the foreign ministers at Washington, announc- 



