In the early 1860s when the events of the Civil War brought a short-lived burst of prosperity to St. George's, the Globe Hotel provided shelter for the many seafarers and traders who swarmed into the old capital. Briefly, in those turbulent years, the hotel on the edge of King's Square became an important landmark in the town.

Last Friday, the handsome old building, now painstakingly restored, was officially named as the flagship museum of the Bermuda National Trust.

Part of the ground floor now houses the new museum shop, with adjacent sections devoted to the general history of Bermuda, the story of the Globe building itself (it is one of the oldest multi-storeyed buildings in the Island) and decorative boards illustrating the history and function of the National Trust.

And, as president Hugh Davidson puts it, "We are pushing the point that the whole town of St. George's is, in itself, a living museum. This is really the public face of the Trust. We have a new orientation video which will give visitors a better feeling of what Bermuda is about, what the National Trust does and, hopefully, encourage people to visit other places of beauty and interest on the Island.'' Benefactors of this latest major project are Michael De Groote and the Bank of N.T. Butterfield, who provided funding for the restoration of the building and the creation of the new "Rogues and Runners'' exhibit, devoted to the story of the town's blockade-running during the Civil War. The Christian Humann Foundation donated the cost of Panatel's video on Bermuda's history.

In a place of pride on the ground floor is a new model of the Sea Venture , donated by the Sea Venture Trust.

Dominating the staircase is a magnificent reproduction painting of a busy St.

George's Harbour in 1863, the original of which belongs to the Chicago Historical Society.

"Rogues and Runners'' was designed by Dan Murphy of Planning, Research and Design Ltd. of Fairfax, Virginia whose concept was in turn, based on the research carried out here for the National Trust by historian Michael Jarvis.

"This entire museum is driven by research, much of it taken from The Royal Gazette , the Bermuda National Archives and various museums in the US.'' The upstairs exhibit tells the story, from Bermuda's perspective, of the Island's involvement in the American Civil War. Partly because of their long historical ties, Bermuda had tended to support the Southern states in their war with the North. They could see, from a trading point of view, that despite the terrible risks, blockade-running could be extremely lucrative. The enterprise, incidentally, had the enthusiastic backing of The Royal Gazette , which was staunchly pro-Southern. Soon, despite the official neutrality imposed by Queen Victoria in London, Bermuda was dodging the naval blockades enforced by the North around the Southern ports. Because of the old capital's easy and fast access to the open sea, St. George's became one of the Confederacy's most important ports, supplying munitions and food to the secessionists in return for bales of cotton. From St. George's, these were then shipped to the cotton mills of England.

Each room of the upper floor examines various aspects of the town's halcyon years which began around 1861, reaching a climax of frenzied activity from 1863/64 before defeat finally settled over the South in 1865 -- and returned St. George's to its more accustomed calm.

The visitor will realise, of course, that these were the very rooms in which sailors of every nationality stayed while in port, spending vast sums of money on food and drink, making the most of the pleasures of life before they set off again, often on life-threatening missions.

The first room exhibits various artifacts from the time, including a bucket of coal (huge stockpiles were stored here for the new-fangled steamers that had just come into use), barrels of gunpowder, salted meat, rope, horseshoes, tools, soap, armaments -- an array of bullets -- and even a "Peter Tait'' Confederate shell jacket.

There is a section devoted to the activities of the shrewd Mr. John T. Bourne, Confederate agent who co-ordinated a lot of the clandestine, triangular business between Britain, Bermuda and the US, and, under the heading of National Trust museum From page 23 -- as it was in real life -- as the Globe House office of Major Normal Walker, political agent for the Confederacy. Visitors can see one of the original letter books, recording some of the fantastic transactions which took place.

Another room highlights some of the darker aspects of that giddy era, one of the worst of these being the constant outbreaks of yellow fever. "A Sinister Cargo'' tells the story of a certain evil Dr. Blackburn who tried to infect the Northern armies with "infected'' blankets and clothing.

"Perhaps this was the first instance of germ warfare!'' remarks Mr. Davidson.

He notes that at the tax year-end of 1864, there was a total value of 511,200 stock-in-trade in merchants' trades in St. George's.

"Also, in that same year, 367 vessels passed through the town and a total of 7,774 sailors. There were 40,000 tons of coal in reserve and, between 1862 and 1865, 59,442 bales of cotton were shipped to Britain at a value of almost 3 million. In today's money, that would be about 120 million in total business. There is no doubt,'' he adds, "that this was the biggest economic boom in the history of St. George's and the effects were felt island-wide.'' The bubble finally burst when Forts Fisher and Caswell, guarding Wilmington, finally fell. The huge wave of prosperity which had seen labour rates sky-rocket from 3/6d a day to an unprecedented eight shillings a day, was over.

"This had attracted labour from throughout the Island to the extent that the farming community began to have great difficulties in gathering in crops,'' explains Mr. Davidson. "When the blockade ended, Mr. Bourne was left with about 12,000 of stuff left over. We can see from The Royal Gazette that he held auctions to get rid of it.'' Mr. Davidson, who notes that the museum project has taken two years to complete, feels that the decision to have a Museum Shop in the St. George's building will make a significant addition to the shopping experience in the old town. Run by the Trustworthy Group, the shop sells attractive and unusual craftware and gifts, many of them handmade in Bermuda.

The National Trust Museum at the Globe Hotel is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. Entrance fee, which includes the 12-minute video show, is $4. A combo ticket for all the National Trust properties costs $5.

Mr. Davidson says he would like, "once and for all'', to dispel the myth that Bermuda's National Trust is an "exclusive'' group.

"I heard, through a focus group the other day, that people think the Trust is for rich people and that it costs $1,000 a year to join. In fact, annual membership is only $15 -- and very good value, with free access to all of our museums. We would be very happy to hear from anyone who would like to join.

And we welcome help from anyone and everyone!'' Photos by Arthur Bean ROGUES AND RUNNERS -- The Bermuda National Trust's new museum at the old Globe Hotel in St. George's was officially opened to the public last week. Pictured below (left to right) are : National Trust president Hugh Davidson, musuem guide Judy Perry, properties superintendent Louis De Silva, assistant Cyril Dowling, shop volunteer Jacquie Savard, and Norris Paynter, project foreman.