The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1854-04-15
NUMBER 81.
Desperate Rencounter on the S,eom., spy
TraUbe. " -
.HHempf to take the Boot-.Nusfering of the
CreIc-.iymed SDaniaydy in The CnoS

s. as. but seldom have to record such success.
sion Of violence as occurred on the steamer s.
+. j. Traube, on the Mississippi river, during
her r. Cent trip from New Orleans. As is usual
at this season of the year. the boat was crowded
with deck passengers, chiefly fat-boatmen from
the Wabash and coal bCatmcn from Pitts
burgh. Among the latter was set Of tur-
bnlcnt, quarrelsome men. who were about half
drunk when they got on the boat at New Or
leans, and had fight or two among themselves
before the boat left port. Capt. Tucker was no
titled by friend. who recognized one or two Of
the men. that he would have trouble with them
ard that they would try to take the boat.
Som after the boat was under way, and be-
fore she Ind proceeded many miles up the ri
yer one Of the Pittsburgh coal bOatmen attack
ed Il Wabash man. who WAS quiet and peace
able, and hud said nothing to him and knocked
him down and beat him dreadfully. Two OF his
friends interiered to save him from further ill
usage. when they were bcset and beaten nearly
to death, and one Of them had his arm broken
by blow Of an lAe i'll the hands of the rioters.
The deck bar was open and another of the pas
seuScrs 4 small man, stepped up after the FIRST
afray and called fora drink. While he was in
the act Of drinking, burly fellow, bully
among the coal boatmen- stepped up and seized
him by the neck. choked him. and threw him to
the deck, as ii he were q chicken, and then
stamped him. lie was suffered to get up, and
as soon as he recovered his feet, he drew knife
and inflicted q terrible wound in the big man'i
right breast, which placed him on his back dur
ing the rest OF the trip. and on the arrival the
boat here he was sent TO the hospital.
Not long after this occurrence the coal boat.
i2en became perfectly wild with liquor, or their
anxiety for fight. and were heard to swear
that they would take the boat and do as they
pleased. The deck was crowded with passcn-
gers, and TIE quiet and orderly had no peace or
rest and were besct every moment. Capt.
Tucker then determined to quell the riot. and
summoning his crew, among whom were twen-
ty-0ne Spaniards. and armng them with short
clubs, batciictS. and whatever weap5ns he could,
he marched to the lower deck, and eNGcay ored
to restore and put the rioters ashore. The ri
Oters laughed at him, and one big fellow shook
his fist under his nose ard deicJ the whole
crew. The Spaniards, in solid phalany, each
armed with club and long knife, were Or
dcred to advance and seize the ringlcader.
Then cnsued q scene ofstrife and confusion, sell
dom seen on the deck of steamboat. The
Spanish crew, however, were victorious, and
managed to secure four Of the riugleaders, who
were tied neck and heels and peace was at
once restored. The chief of the mob was not
caught, and for several days could not be found
and 1t was thought that he, together with four
or five Others had jumped overheard and eithe.
drowned or swan ashore. Several of the cabin
y
or four men in the ri.er, and as the affair
occurred soon after the boat left New Orleansit
was impossible to tell who was lost.
During the melee, coal bOatman, of the
name of Blakely was much hurt and dangerous
iy stabbed in the rear He was taken care OF
hy the officers Of the boat. and sent to the hos
pital The mate of the Traube received cut
in the hand from knife which he caught as Quo
OF the mutinccrs made at him.
Tie four that were arrest ed were nut off the
boat soon after the affray was quellcd. and
when the boat was in the neighborhood Of Mil
kins' Bend the big fellow that had been missing
was forthwith set ashore. He had been secret
ed under the cylinder tmbers. No further OUT
break occurred during the trip, though many
threats were made ust before the boat reached
port. The discipline OF the Spaniards, and the
determination OF the officers Of the boat, put an
efcctual stop to the lawlessness Of the co&l
boatmca.-LOu:SrWe C0Uyity.
AFFAIR AT KAIAr,--On Tie morning of the
7th inst, says Kalafat letter of Feb. 9th, L
large force OF Russians were deserted marching
on the intrcnchmcnts, consisting of seventeen
battalons of infantry, y-four pieces of artil-
lery and four regiments of cavalry, collected
from POjana MaglcyitZ, and the other villages
IN the neighbOrhood. The Turkish outpost at
Tschupcrtsin instantly fell back. and the troops
got under arms in expectation Of an Immediate
range of cannon, and remained for four hours in
the same position. the General being apparent
Iy occupied in accommodating and sketching the
position. Two or three hundred bushi buzuks
and some regulars were sent out of the camp,
occupied themselves during the day in skir-
mishing with the COssacks, while the artillery
exchanged shots at intervals Of ten OF fifteen
minutes. Iskender Bey, though still suffering
from the effects Of his fall at estate secured
the country during the forenoon with small
force of cavalry, and minutely inspected every
side Of the enemy's position. 1t was, however,
deemed advisable not to attack them in force
until there was more known of their strength
ard Intentions.
About three in the afternoon they fell back.
after burning all the hay ard brushw ood in the
vicinity, not only Of Kalafat, but of the sur
rounding villages. This led to the belief that
they were about to retire altogether, as large
fires were also discernable in the direction of
estate and Naglovitz during theth mig. At 10
O'Clock. Pm. nine squadrons of cavalry and
four pieces OF artillery left the camp, under the
command Of Achmet Pacha in person, for the
purpose ofascertaining ifpossible the real state
OF affairs. We advanced slowly in the bright
moonlight, by sweeping the country for q dis
tance Of two miles from the Danube and came
upon the Russian videttes in the old place,
about cannon shot and half from GolentZ
They, of course, instantly fed. and the bashi
buzuks following hard on their track, fell in
with few more amongst some haystacks. close
to the bank of the river. A fire OF carbines was
instantly opened along the whole line Iskcn.
der Bey rushed to the front, shouting loudly,
'llleree! Illeree Forward !! forward! ~ Forth
with followed all the picturesque Of a nocturnal
combat the bright flashing of the carbines and
pistols through the gloom, hallooing. galloping,
and general bewilderment on the part OF every
body. 1t turned out to be a false alarm after
all. The Cossacks did not number more than
four or five, and had of course made their es-
cape at the earliest possible opportunity. In
stead of advancing, however, rapidly, the order
was given to halt, and, to the surprise Of eve
rybody, the artillery unlimbered and COM
menced firing toward the village, which it was
impossible to distinguish even with the aid Of
the moonlight. Shot after shot lighted up the
plain and whizzed iercely through the night
air but there was no response. The Russians
would not come out to show themselves, SO we
marched back to camp very little wiser than
when we left it, except that we knew that Go
lepf Va Syo of in n>vio< o,,I nj