Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1871-11-08
THE ESCAPE OF THE HORTON.
Captain KnowItOn's story of His
Cruise.
Cor Many YnrL

excitement here over the recapture O
, the schooner Horton, is at fever hea
' tonight. The town hall IS crowded
5 by an immense and enthusiastic audi
nee. Speeches are making BY Collec
tor Babson, Mr. Corliss, and others
? and purse of $1,000, raised by con
tlibutioLs of Gloucester merchants, ha
been presented to Captain Harve.
Knowlton and his five men, who res
) cued the vessel from the Canadian gov
ernment.
[ had long interview with the cap
: tain to-day. He said that lie and the
other owners of the Horton had suffer
ed great loss by the capture of one o.
their vessels last year by the Dominion
government, and when the Horton was
seized determined to depend upon
themselves and take possession of then
property wherever found. To this end
Captain Knowlton left town on the
twentieth day of September and arrived
at Manchester, four miles below Guys
borough, on the 9th, and in order to
get opportunity to fully develop his
plans and to disarm suspicion, went to
mining and obtained several specimens
J vi SO1d Iu AlUtl lOttI CdfS db UllS
occupation he took his specimens and
went to Canso. Here he worked
very quietly and secured the
/ services of six American fish
ermen, who cheerfully volunteered
their services in the enterprise. Octo-
Der 3, Captain Knowlton and his men
! left Carso and travelled through the
woods, distance Of eighteen miles
from Guysborough. This occupied the
entire day, as they were often obliged
! to hide themselves in order to escape
observation. Arriving in Guysbo1ough
after dark, they concealed themselves
in barn, having taken the precaution
to procure good stock of provisions.
Crptain Knowlton kept himself con.
stantly disguised, and employed his
| timein accommodating around the town,
visiting the wharf where the vessel was
moored, sounding the channel, and in
obtaining such other information as
he would require when the moment for
action arrived. He found that the Off
cials were so sure of their prey that
they had no keepers on board of the
vessel, but she was stripped of every
thing movable The captain made
good use of his eyes and ears during
his stay in town, and found where her
sails and rigging were stored. Sunday
night, the 8th inst, was the time set
for the recapture of the vessel. At
$50 o'clock it was bright starlight,
with favorable northwest wind blow
ing The captain and his men left their
hiding place and boldly walked into
Guysville, q distance of six miles, and
and were fortunate enough not to meet
any person on the way. They arrived
at the centre of the town just as the
clock on the church steeple struck /
Observing some lights yet burning IN
the houses, they awaited quietly until
these were extinguished and then pro-
ceeded to the wharf. They were not
long in putting themselves inside the
building which contained the Horizons
sails, rigging, &c. These they took
charge of, and soon had them on board
of the vessel. Finding they had made
some mistake to the sails, having got
some belonging to another vessel, they
were obliged to return, which caused
vexatious delay. It could not be help
ed, however, and the vessel was
aground The tide was coming in, her
sails and rigging were quickly bent,
and all was ready for starting at 1
o'clock The suspense was awful, as
the appearance of any person on the
wharf to raise an alarm would ruin the
entire plan. All was ready, but it was
found that the craft was yet aground.
Time was precious. Now a warp was
got out, the vessel was hove astern. At
2:30 she foated. All was still. Not
word had been uttered nor an unneces-
sary sound made during all these prep
arations. Sail was put on her, and with
Captain Knowlton at the helm, the sau-
cy little craft filed away and passed
out of the harbor, at liberty. 1t was
apprehended that pursuit would at once
be made, but the captain had made his
calculations to elude it. At daylight
the vessel was outside of Little Canso,
and her course was shaped S. S. W. in
order to obtain a good oting. There
was fresh breeze from n. n. w, and
by sunrise she was many miles outside
of land, with her course shaped for the
northern edge of the Gulf Stream. There
was plenty of water and provisions, as
the vessel had been Teftted only two
days before taken by the cutter. This
was not known for certainty, but had
to be risked, and fortunate indeed was
it that the Canadians had not removed
these important sinevs of war. The
southwesterly course was pursued until
| the 18th, when q severe easterly gale
was encountered, in which the vessels
| foresail was badly damaged. They saw
one steamer on the third day out, but
| did not speak any vessels for fear of
capture The Captain had made up
his mind that the vessel should not be
taken, and in case an English cruiser
molested them preparations were al
ready to burn the Horton. The course
was continued across the southeast part
of Georges Banks and then direct for
Cape Ann, which was reached as above
stated. The passage was made without
any charts or nautical instruments,
with the exception of the compass, the
Captain relying entirely on his own
good Judgment in shaping his course
The result of the bold effort afforded
occasion for the widest jubilat1on in
Gloucester. When the vessel arrived
home, about 7:30 o'clock, she was
greeted by the booming of cannon,
ringing of bells, and music of brass
band. Knowlton and his men were
cheered, a big torchlight procession
was extemporized, and when the brave
captain got home hewas serenaded and
forced to tell the crowd the story of his
adventures. Thus, in festive rejoicing
aEd congratulation, nearly the entire
night was passed.
Cause OF CatacaZy's Recall.
It is given out at the State Depart
ment that the real cause for demanding
Catacazy's recall by our government,
was undiplomatic conduct by the Rus
sian minister, while the Washington