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

UNITY, MINNESOTA.
VICTORIOUS AShANTEEs.
tSs .s !. .1' Il. ,::; En-
Correspondence Of the New York World.
CAPE CoAsr, Africa, August COVE
are ut war, an inglorious war, with the
king of Ashantee; his capital, Coo
massie, is 12O miles from the coast.
our base of operations. It is neces.
sary that we should seize this capital.
but to do it will cost us fabulous sums
of money and dreadful loss of life.
The country between the Ashantee
frontier and the sea coast is nominally
our country, or at least it is nominslly
under our protection, but is really at
the present moment in the hands of
the AshaDtee army. The river Prah,
which enters the sea near Elmina, is
the highway to tho Ashantce country.
1t flows due south from it's froutier, it
is navigab(e, at least at certain seasons,
for boats of good size, and as the coun-
try on each side of :lt;is destitute Of
roads, and covered for the most
part with impenetrabie JUNGLE 1t
by the Prah alone that
can advance. There IS talk of
utting road through the Jungle and
aging down q railway, but this under
70 -i1nr ruorvLl or,1 s,, kln v4n1 1>Ds>>~
literally made OF dead mems bones.
The climate here is deadly to white
men, and the natives, after our late
defeat, will be much more inclined to
join our foes than to work for us. The
British commander, Commodore Com
merell, resolved to try IN advance by
way 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 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 litter-they are Ashantees-
and they arc much more inclined
to side with their brother blacks
than with us foreign whites. Commo-
dore Commerell, however, thought he
could win them over. He arranged an
expedition to explore the Prah, con-
sisting Of steam launch, steam cut
ter, two galleys, his gig, and a whaler,
and leaving Ills ship, the Rattlesnake,
off Chamah, he went ashore on the
morning of the 18th and held a talk
with the chiefs. He pointed out the
desirability of their forming an ALI.
ance, offensive and defensive, with us !;
but they were cnmoved by his elo-
quence. They declared that they were
determined to maintain strict neutral
ity between us and our foes, and all
that resulted from the palaver was a
warning from them that the Ashantees
we're in strong force Oh the opposite
side of the river. Commodore Com
merell was resolved to proceed, and
proceed he did, to his sorrow. The
current of tho 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 were
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, an1 went merrily along
for about mile and half, taking
soundings as they went. The arms OF
the crew were 81 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 a murderous
fire was opened upon the boats, and a
bloody scene followed. Our men were
thrown into confusion at the first
discharge Commodore Commerell was
himself shot down, dangerously wound
ed the next moment Commander
Luxmore and Captain Holden were
wounded our men lost many minutes
before they could obtain their arms,
and when they got them their fire was
at IN unseen foe; and nothing was left
but to back out of the scrape as.soon
as possible.
But while this was going on still
worse scene was being enacted OF
Chamah. A cutter with q 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 boat was upset in
the surf: The Chamah natives had as
sembled on the shore, all armed, and
ut this moment they opened fire on the
men who had landed, and on the crew
of the cutter who WERE swimming in
the surf, trying to right their boat.
Their fire wounded many of the crew
and killed one. Other boats from the
Rattlesnake quickly arrived, the wound
ell picked up, and all hands returned
to the Rattlesnake. Commander COM
merrcl reached his ship from his un-
fortunate expedition at 6 P..M.,. and
the doleful story he had to tell mis-
echoed by the one he had to hear. In
the two affairs four lives had been sac
rifced, and twenty officers and men
wounded. "Revenge" was the cry,
but how to get -it2 The treacherous
Ashantecs had retired to the bush ; but
their town remained, and probably
some of their women aud children.
The Rattlesnake was cleared for action,
and for two hours the town was bonn
barded. At the end of that time it
was a heap of ruins; but I scarcely
think that tho pecuniary damage in
flicted was great, nor that any one was
killed but some old women too veal
to run away.
What is to b. done next2 No one
seems to know. We have very little
heart for the wretched business in
which We are engaged. If an army o.
5000 mon was sent here, we should
probably be able to win our game; bu
it would lie at the cost of tue lives o
1000 of them. The only way to get t.
Coomassee, it is now believed, is t,
build a railway thither, and to do thi
will cost the lives of four out of ever,
five men engaged in it. The malarii
on the coast is simply deadly.
| Something Lighter than Air.
| A rather astonishing bit of chemica
news appears in Paris letter to tn
Turf, Field and Farm. It describes ,
discovery related at secret session 4
, the Paris Academy of Science on til
18th of last June. The discovery is tia
hydrogen, hitherto considered nm ele
ment, is in reality a combination Q
, two clements, one of which is min
times as light rs hydrogen, and twenty
, five times as light rs ordinary illum