Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1871-03-22

neer "to stop that smoke, whenever
any appeared. The ships papers, bills
OF ladlng, &c, were iii charge OF
minor officer, stationed in the freehold,
/ with orders to burn them upon pios-
pect of capture. The gold was on deck,
ready to go to Davy Jones rather than
| to Uncle Sem
/ There was much excitement, even
/ those who Had made score of trips
being affected. Two. We are a mile
out Nothing yet. All is well. Three.
Right among the fleet, when, eeWhat's
that ?" said the mate "Where away?n
"On our port bow, sir" GA Yankee.
as [ live, says the captain. '.Does he
see us 2" Cant tell, sir He is head
ing right across our course eePort
your helm Stop that smokel" Give
her all the boilers will stand, engineer.
Five minutes suspense. He is with
In pistol shot. A broadside may inform
us we are discovered. Five minutes
more and he has passed us, thanks to
our color. A wreck rising out of the
darkness, then startles us till we recog-
nize it as the remains of fine
steamer, hard ashore a week or SO
before. Then we think we sec some
thing. A minute; some one else is
certain there is a large steamer dead
ahead. And SO on, for an hour, until
we are well out to sea. Danger largely
passed, and most of us are going to
orr nights rest. We have passed the
inner feet, and to. morrow will be in
the track of the cruisers outside. VIII
we escape as well z
10 RI rr1t fo ha
are the only humans upon the ocean.
So on up to noon, when a barge trans
port is seen and passed. Then strange
steamer comes in sight, chasing the
transport, using both steam and can
vas
Caring nothing for new acqiiaintanc-
es, our course is altered from E. S: e.
to S., and the stranger, from the first
but speck on the horizon, and only to
be seen from the masthead, now disap-
pears almost entirely Suddenly, the
speck commences to increase. "He
has headed for u.s. cries the lookout.
Half an hour of anxiety. We on deck
know we are being chased, but can see
nothing of a pursuer, nor can we tell
who is gaining until Capt. R., coming
from the masthead, declared, with an
oath, "She goes two feet to our one"
The appearance of the speck to us on
deck told that he spoke more truth than
poetry Turpentine, cotton, and every
other com bustible are now crowded in
to the furnaces. The boilers are ready
to burst. Still he gains. "All hands
to Tighten Ship" and bale following
bale overheard changed matters but
,f irto 70
ment, and the stranger was near enough |
for us to see large paddle-box steamer,
carrying dozen guns, and by this time
he had opened fire upon us, showing
by his accuracy that his gunners knew
their business, and that our English
flag would prove no protection.
"All hands to clear small BOATS"
comes the order, and preparations are
made to fire the ship. In mid-ocean,
a heavy sea running; capture certain
If we remain, death almost as certain
if we take to the boats, our situation is
Providence, however,
causes the other officers to protest |
against burning the ship, and the cap
tain to listen. 1t WAS decided not to
destroy the vessel. q
"Well, boys, we are gone up this
time" at last says Capt. r. Help
yourselves to anything you want. The
shouts of the men obeying this permis-
sion, and destroying what they could
not use, the whiz of the. shot flying
around us, the roaring ocean, the ex-
cited crew, all contributed to make
Z" scene"
AS the engines were stopped, frag
ments of paper coming out of the
smoke stack told us where our bills of
lading had gone to, and hundred
pound shell barely missing our stern
post told us where we would have gone
to had We not stopped.
Belle Bcyde, who had been very calm
during the chase and had occupied an
exposed position on deck, now loaded
her pistol, and said "she would die a
martyr to the cause. %
We were captured by the United
States gun-boat Connecticut
The Greyhound was sent to Boston,
where she was condemned and sold,
bringing with her cargo the good round
sum of S540, ,00G We, after an impris-
onment of six months at Camp Hamil-
ton, near Fort Monroe, were released,
many or all of us going back to try it
over again.
Belle, having helped herself bounti-
fully to the confederate gold, was en-
abled to bribe the guards of Capt.
Rogers to allow him to escape, which
he did before he landed at all. She
ran away with the prize master, spent
the balance of her money, got divorced,
if she ever had been married, and is
now [ know not where.
Some of us were very successful after
this, and [ "never got old enough to
serve my country" t" as | promised.