October 31, 1861 – Gifts from Litchfield

Sergeant Smith of the 4th Regiment, took back with him on Monday to his company a vast amount of comforts and luxuries for “the boys.” He had Hams, Cheeses, Tubs of fresh butter, Crackers, Shirts, Stockings, pipe and cigars, amounting in all to three large dry goods boxes and one barrel full! Something over seventy pairs of good, thick, warm wollen stockings were sent. Notable mothers, sisters and grandmothers, habituated to such labors, have plied their needles during the past fortnight more industriously than ever, and dainty fingers which never before manipulated anything harsher than Berlin wool, have bravely toiled over the heavy blue yarn, anxious to contribute something to the comfort of their brothers in the distant camp.

Coast Guard Boats Riddle Liquor Craft

Photo of the Helen, a rum runner, sitting low in the water after being shot up by the Coast Guard. Men on board are seizing crates of liquor.

Two Vessels Captured After Early-Morning Battle in Long Island Sound.

NEW LONDON, Conn., October 25.—Guns aboard Coast Guard vessels blazed away yesterday in a hectic battle, fought in the darkness of early morning, with two suspected rum runners.

With five craft already to their credit as the result of previous encounters earlier in the week, the Coast Guardsmen in yesterday’s engagement riddled the liquor-laden speed boat Helen of Newport with machine-gun bullets and one-pound shells and captured a second speed boat, the Pueblos of Bridgeport, believed to be a sister ship of the Helen.