Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1870-01-19

Yacantly at a NY on Inc CEILING lOT HILL
ute; and then, springing up in the bed,
made use of this remarkable expression,-
80, Jinkey !"
Our toilet was made with as much celeri-
ty as possible; though, in our trembling
haste, we were much longer than we should
have been if less eager for the fray.
On our way to the pond, we had another
little alteration in reference to the ques-
ton of defeat-I contending that when the
foremost was gone. it should be considered
beaten. But my cousin persisted that in
all his reading of naval contests, he never
met with such a thing; it was contrary to
precedent and common sense. Of course
whoever is out of ammunition must give in.
How can he help himself?
Very Well; didn't care; it wasn't worth
while quarreling when we were about to
fight.
We soon reached the pond. At first we
sailed our boats about, to see how they
looked in their new fighting trim. Mine
foated very high out of the water, and con-
sequently presented bold broadside to
the enemy, while his was almost as fiat as
a single. He very cunningly loaded her
with ballast, so that there should be little
Or nothing for me to aim at but the masts.
Here's capital hint for admirals.
We chose position, and anchored about
one yard from each other; almost yard-arm
to yard arm, and just near enough to the
shore to be able to reach our guns with the
bit of smouldering rope that served us for
8 slow match. We had fuses on the touch
holes, made of gunpowder- in case
our cannon should explode; a disaster not
at all unlikely, as we rammed in our am
mun1tion with an iron rod and hammer.
The next thing was to ''toss up" for first
shot. It fell to me, which 1 thought a
good omen, Tremblingly 1 examined, to
be sure that all was right, sighted my gun,
touched the fuse, and ran.
The bravest held their breath for time
It was an anxious moment. How my heart
knocked against my ribs
Bang
A cloud of smoke enveloped the hostile
ships We rushed to the scene. The pi-
rate was unframed Not a mark or a
scratch was on her. But mine-my beauti-
full Geraldine (as called her in honor of a
certain school girl, with curls and blue
eyes, there she lay almost a complete
wreck! My unfortunate gun had rebound
ed with such force, that it not only tore
away the port bulwarhs to which it was at
tached. but carried away the stays and
shrouds of the foremost, and, knocking a
great gap in the starboard bulwarks, ac-
tually plunged overheard out of sight {!
CONSERVATION seized me. The pirate
danced with delight. Luckily I had had
the precaution to faSten my cannon to the
mainmast by rope, otherwise the day
would have been up with me.
It was now the pirates turn, although as
he sneeringly remarked, he might as well
spare his powder, as had done much more
damage to myself than he expected to do.
After good deal of fixing and fussing he
at length touched the fuse.
Bang went his gun, five times as loud
as Rline. The smoke enveIoped our boats
as before, and again we rushed to the front.
The pirates gun was gone AS he did not
have it fastened strong enough, it was
nowhere to be found. But before it babe
US good-by, it finished me up in fine style.
My foremost was cut off almost even with
the deck; one shot had pierced the main
mast, while the hull was peppered and bat
tered in a style awful to contemplate !!
What with anger and sorrow, [ felt all
choked up. [ only wished [ was on board
of real vessel, wouldn't 1 have closed in
with the pirate, and given him fight with
vim But, as it was, according to the ar
ticles of our contract, which, indeed the
pirate insisted upon, was not beaten. No;
that was the comfort. If he had only con.
sented that when the foremost was shot
away, the contest would be ended, then he
would have been victor. AS it was, had
my gun and my powder. To be sure, the
gun was so damp inside, that it was doubt
full whether it could be discharged still, I
reloaded, determined to make my mark or
die in the attempt.
Meantime the pirate himself was search
ing about on his hands and knees, among
the wet grass and weeds for his truant can
non. And never did I see him so cross
and surly before. was all ready for an
could not be found. It seemed to have
gone in search of the pirates gun.
81 can't find the match, - said L
81 s'pose you've swallowed it, you were
90 mad" he replied.
''More likely you swallowed it yourself, r"
I retorted sharply.
"Why shouldn't you take care of it when
you had it ?" he demanded.
81 say gave it to you last-didn't you
fire your old horse pistol last ?" I cried put
ting as much venom as possible in ''horse
pistol
& say you didn't give it to me"
81 say l did"
but I know better, I"
Bang
There ensued the silence of death ! The
pirate, on all tours, looked up in pale as
constituent; and [ was no less lost in won
der. There was an explosion somewhere,
and yet we could see no smoke. 1t was a
dull, heavy thud, that seemed far of, and
yet close by. What in the world could it
be
Suddenly the pirate sprung to his feet,
again making use of the aforesaid express
sion 80, Jinkey,"
He was enveloped IL smoke. Like a
c12zy fellow, he tore away the whole front
of his pants. His shir: was on fire He
had actually put the match in his pocket
and blown up his magazine
So that's how l conquered the pirate.
San FRANc1sco.-The exports by sea
from San Francisco, during 1859, amount
in value to So, 600 900, of which At per
cent. were sent by sailing vessels, and So
per cent by steamers and across the 18TH
mus of Panama. The trade by the Pacific
Railway is increasing, particularly in small
packages Of valuable articles. Thus, re-
Gently, 100 boxes of tea were shipped over
that route to New York, and 4O7 boxes to
Chicago. Silkworms' eggs have also be,
come q profitable article of export, and rs
were shipped few days ago to
LYONS France, by way of the Pacific Rail
road and New York. Wheat is also being
sent from San Francisco to England, in
large quantities. 400 tons were despatched
in one day, and 10 vessels are now loading
for the same destination.