Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-10-16

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UNITY, MINNESOTA,
VICTORIOUS AsnAsrEEs. !:
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s. ooxrespoutsnoe II he Now York World. ( !
CAPE CoAsr, Africa, August 2O:-We
are at war, an inglorious var. with the
king of Ashantee his capital. Coo.
massie, is 120 miles from the coast,
our base of operations. It is neces.
sary that We should 1seize this capital.
but to do it will cost MS fabulous sums
of money and dreadful loss of life.
The country between the Ashantee
frontier and the sea coast is nominally
our country, Or 1t least it is nominslly
under our protection, but is really At
the present moment in the hands of
the Ashantee army. The river -Prab,
which enters the sea near Blmlnn; is
the highway 70 the Aahantee country.
1t flows due south fEen ,its frontier, il
is navigable, at least at certain seasons,
for boats of good size, and as the coun-
try on each: side rot .lt1s destitute of
roads, and covered. for the most
part with impenetrsble jungle. at
by the Prah alone that
can advance. There Is talk Of
utting road through tho Jungle and
aging down . railway, but this under
taking would end in. the road being
literally made OF dead mems bones.
The climate here is deadly to white
men, and the natives, after our late
defeat, will~b much more inclined to
Join our foes than to work for us. The
British commander, Commodore Com
merell, resolved to try an advance by
WY of the Prah. He knew that the
Ashantee troops were on the banks of
the river, and he seemed to think that
he might drive them away. A little
native assistance was considered de-
sirable, and he opened negotiations
with the natives Of Chamah there is
also there a fort, which was built by
the Dutch, and which was handed over
by them to US when we obtained the
nominal possession of this interesting
country. But the inhabitants of Cha
NAH are tribe who are Ashantees all
but one ltter-they are Ashantees--
and they are much more inclined
to side with their brother blacks
than with us foreign whites. Commo-
dore Commerell, however, thought he
could win them over. He4arranged an
expedition to explore the Prah, con-
sisting Of steam launch, a steam cut
ter. two galleys, his gig, and . whaler,
and leaving his ship, the Rattlesnake,
off Chamah, he went ashore on the
morning of the 14th and held q talk
with the chiefs. He pointed out the
desirability of their forming an ALI.
ance, offensive and defensive, with us; !;
but they were .Enmoyed by his ,elo-
quence. They declared that they were
determined to maintain strict nentral-:
ity between us and our foes, and all
that resulted from the palaver was q
warning from them that the Ashantees
were in strong force on tho opposite
side of the river. Commodore Com
merell was resolved to proceed, and
proceed he did, to his sorrow. The
current of the river was sluggish,
about two miles an hour; there were
about six feet of water, the stream: was
about $50 feet wide, and the banks we're
covered with bushes. Relying upon the
assurance of the AshaDteee, that the
Ashantees were on the opposite bank,
the boats were run near the Ashantee or
Chamah side, anc went merrily along
for about mile and a half, taking
soundings as they went. The arms OF
the crew were 8, owed away in the bot
tom of the boats, and there was abso-
lutely no thought of' or precaution
against an attack. Suddenly from the
Chamah side Of the river q. .murdsrous
fire was opened upon the boats, and !
bloody scene followed. Our men were
thrown into confusion; at the first
discharge Commodore 4Oommereil was
himself shot down, dangerously wound
ed the next moment Commander
Luxmore and Captain Helden were
wounded our men lost many minutes
before they could obtain their arnna,
and when they got them their fire was
at an unseen foe; and nothing was left
but to back out of the scrnpe aksoon
az possible.
But while this was going on a still
worse scene was being enacted at
Chamah. A. cutter with 10 detachment
of ten men, intended to garrison the
fort at Chamah, had been sent from
the Rattlesnake to the shore. The ten
men had landed, and the crew of the
cutter were trying to land some stores
for them, when the lboat,was -upSet id
the surf. The Ohamah natives had as
sembled on the shore, all armed, and
at this moment they opened fire on the
men who had landed, and on the crew
Of the cutter who i1efe swimming siD
the surf, trying. to right their boat.
Their fire wounded 0ahany Of the; crev
and killed one. Other boats from the
Rattlesnake quickly arrived, the wound
ed picked up, and all hands returned
10 tho Rattlesnake. Commander Gem
merrell reached his ship from his un-
fortunate expedition ct 6 Pm. - and
the doleful STORY he had TO- tell y@fs
echoed by the one he had to hear. In
the two affairs four lives had been sac
rificed, and: twenty officers and men
wounded. Revenge" was the cry,
but. how to- get. It'll w. The treaeher0us
Ashantees had retired to the bush but
their town remained, and probably
some of their women and children.
The Rattlesnake was cleared for action,
and for two hours the town was bom
barded. At the end of that time il
was q heap of ruins; but I scarcely
think that tho pec,lniary damage in
aicted was great, nor that any one wat
killed but some old women too veal
to RON away.
| What is to be done next9 No on.
seems to know. We have very littl,
heart for the wretched business il
which We are engaged. If an army o
5000 men was sent here, we shoult
probably be able to win our game bu
1t would be at the cost of the lives O
900 of them. The only way to get t,
Coomassee, it is now believed, is t.
build Q railway thither, and to do thi
will cost the lives of four out of ever,
five men engaged in it. The malari
on the coast is simply deadly.
Something Lighter than Air.
| A rather astonishing bit of chemica
news appears in . Paris letter to th
Turf, Field and Farm It describes !;
discovery related at q secret session
the Paris Academy of Science on til
18th of last June. The discovery is tia
hydrogen, hitherto considered an ele
ment, is in reality q combination Q
two elements, one of which is min
times as light as hydrogen, and twenty
five times az light as ordinary illumi
Mating gas. The new element is oalle
abaron, meaning weightless. It vii