New-York daily tribune., 1862-05-16
Cort,,ued from First Page.

va who would be enabled 10 dis;herge i'l.u
S,,Jv and eAsctaally the dutes "hieu 'uess 'af,t a."
suffering from his "Ound "'-N
IL complim ,nted his officers and crew upon .:c
ii snd enc -gy aud conra-e they had always Gis,
navrd. and the determination ano oo9ihess 'ney uau
sxHiblted in times of ial, and anhd sceLes oi 'ie
.rrsoiss, danger He expressed his deep sorgo ' at
eea,t;no with such brave and patriotic companions
Sscl ring il one Of the saddest moq enis OF ius me,
nd that nothing but consideration for bis country
had induced him 10 ask to be relieved OF situation
be knew himself, from physical nhrInites, iacoih'
petent 10 FIJI. -, - .oo
turned toward him in love and with regre, that re-
vealed itself in moistened eyes, the Commodore was
assisted back to his cabin, trembling IN MS ~eaA
state with the excitement OF the scene ana 'no '"
tion it had caused.
THE COMMoDORE's FAREWELL.
g ..a o,oIooL tho DE Soto dropped down TO tue
uarton and soon after the Commodore psie shG
emsciaied rs if he had been ior mon'ns upon p, ~,
OF sickness, appeared on deck, and, suPpor,eu py
CApts Davis aud Phelps was ean W @
TRANSPORT the officers and crew OF Il flagship gazing
..mns,he,ically toward him. as II he were their
Some minutes were occupied in starting, and the
Commodore was placed in chair on the upper
guards. x,o,. 10, tho los,
time. and saw the many familiar faces that hxed
sler kind ewes upon bin earnestly, his trembling
hand frequently sought his qnivering hp and ner-
vousIy twitched his whiskers. One could see his
efforts TO suppress his feeling, but nature prevailed,
and the brave officer covered his wan lace with u
fan he held to dl,spate the heat OF the afternoon
and wept like child.
The bell was rung, and the wheels splashed
mournfully, and three loud, long and ringing
cheers were given by the crew. The Commodore
ssood up on his crntches the De Soto moved up
The broad Mississippi, aud with tremulous voice,
said: "God bless you ALI Heaven knows how hard
it Is for me " leave you! Better and braver men
than Won never trod d deck. j would much rather
stay with you and die with you than go away But
NV duty TO my country compels me TO yieh 10
stronger though hope not more willing hands. God
bless you, my brave men, God bless you all r
AFFECTING SCENE.
There was bardy dry eye on the deck while the
Commodore spoke, and old tars that had braved the
frozen horrors OF the Northern seas, and the plaques
of the troics that had doubled the Horn again and
again and sailed under the Equator and touched at
eyery prominent land -point on the globe, stood IN
the hot sun with hotter tears upon their cheeks and
nelted into tenderness of at thought OF parting
from their brave old commander, whom they had
learned 10 love 30 vel.
I thou, ,ht had seen the Commodore for the last
time but after the De Soto ont of sight, it was
discovered the mail had been lett behind, and Capt.
Phelps ordered the captain of tug ling alongside
70 take the mail aud catch the transport by all
means.
EXCITING CHASE ON A sTEAM-TUG.
A fellow. and myself leaped on board
The little marine Mercury, and we were immediaiey
ssesming rapidly up the river. Faster and fastei
darled the tug through, and against the strong cur
rent of the Mississippi.
Sixty pounds of steam lie all the boats allowed
under ordinary circumstances TO carry; but in tel
minutes the stesm-gauge marked ninety The fire
men worked nooIy, and the boilers glowed anew
the little TOD. fairly eaped out of the water, throw
ing the white spray above the speeding bow.
One hundred and ten, twenty, thirty, said th
steAm.gauge; but still we seemed 70 be gaining it'll
on the DE Soto
have orders TO catch that boat, and Ill do it, If
blow the tug TO HI
Opeu flew the doors Of the furnace, and the Goa
cracked in the blazing fire, and the boilers sune
shrlly and omiDously, while the stearn-gsuge wen
ap to one hundred aud sxty The tug trcmbled IN
every ioiut, and radated hea, every side, as we
dArted through the sweeping tide Of the mighty
uver.
One hundred and seventy, and eighty, and ninety
proclaimed the steam gauge; and, as we went hyiUI
through the water, the engineer observed: She
won't bear much more; eonething ill break soon.
Let it break" shouted the Captain, who bat
overheard ths re,Hark. " Oar orders are to catch
the De Soto, and we must do it. Never mind the
tug. Well do our part; if she don't do her that
her business.
We we're gaining rapidly on the boat. We saw
her smoke rising around a bend, aud az we spe
after her, o served We were carrying exactly 2O
There wss something exciting in the race agains
tiCae and the spice Of danger made u interesting
Code, how hot the tiny craft was! how swift "
went! She threw out heat as house on frt
Eyery ioipt shook; every seam creaked ever
square inch throbbed under the high pressure OF th
cbsired vapors that seemed burning to diScharg
their painful deaths upon the slender crew.
The tug ran like marine greyhound, and Will
We we're speculatiug upon the chances OF b In
blown into frsgnenre, we darted through marrow
chute end in less than five minutes passed out au'
were bv the side OF the DE Soto.
Toe rsce was over. Tue orders had been exc
cuted.
Perhaps more than one person on the tug breathe
freer az we ran slongsi and delivered the mail
But the excitement gone; the interest was :,
an end and the tug became an ordinary tug, as th
steam gauge fell 10 seventy again. and DANCE
dwindled away, with the blue vapor, into the ill
visible air.
LAST IE ERvIEw WITH TIE COMMODORE.
While the captain of tire tug was busy on the d.
Soto my coypya-ion aud myself went Into the cabii
of tue boat,, and found the Commodore lying ex
h,used upon a cola. / then noticed for the frs
tiae how very pale and worn and tLin he was
Had be remained another fortnight on the Benton
believe THE TRIBUNE would have contained in on,
of the issues Of this month tribute TO the distin
guished services OF the late CON- Foote Assured.
be could not have survived much longer; and ever
nov feel extremely uneasy about bis recovery, TO
be is in most precarious condition.
As we approached, he extended his wasted hand
We INDUCED the hope that lie would sooa be better
that,Our loss would prove his gain.
al, is the cause at will DC the gsiner,' answered
the nag ofhcer feebly. ~ would never have gon,
away, had not been convinced could not coDsci
eutioasy remain. My, life is nothing Ny country
IL welcome 10 30 poor an Offering at any time
bat cannot iDjure our sacred cause by striving I,
gil a pOstion Tor which illness has united I,e.
sbouid nes er have ked 20 be relieved, if had no
known my duty demanded l should do So Ny
country frs. myself afterward."