The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1874-09-04
SHE DRIRuNE.
THE STORY OF THE GUN.

from jersey for the French coast in the
service of the French royallsts, carried
mysterious passenger, whose name was
only known to the captain and bis chief
officer, but who afterwards appears as
the Marquis de Lantenac, the royelist
leader in La Vendee. The breaking
loose of carronade In the gun deck in
terrupts a conversation between these
scene of destruction that followed forms
one of the most powerful episodes OF
the novel,
One of the carronades of the battery,
a twenty four FOUNDER, had got loose.
This is perhaps the most formidable OF
ocean accidents. Nothing more terrible
can happen to vessel 10 open sea and
under full sail.
A gun that breaks its moorings be-
comes suddenly some understandable sup
erpatuIal beast. 1t is machine which
transforms itself into monster. This
mass turns upon It's wheels, has the
rapid movements of biliiard-bali; rolls
with the rolling, pitches with the pitch
ing; goes, comes, pauses. seems to me-
ditate; resumes its course, PUSHES along
the ship from end to end like an arrow,
circles about, springs aside. eVades,
rears, breaks. kills, extermlDates. 1t IS
a battering- ram which assaults wall at
it's own caprice. Moreover, the batter
ingram is metal, the wall wood. 1t Is
the entrance Of matter into liberty. One
might say that this eternal slaye aveDges
itself. 1t seems as If the power OF evil
hidden In what we call inanImate objects
finds a vent and bursts suddenly out. 1t
has an air of having lost patience, of
seeking some fierce, obscure retrlbution;
nothing more memorable than the rage
of the iRanimate. The mad mass has
the bounds Of a panther, the weight of
the elephant, the agility of the mouse,
the obstinaey of the AK, the unexpected
ness Of the surge, the raplflty OF light
ming, the deafness Of the tomb. 1t weighs
ten thousand pounds, and it rebounds
like a child's ball. Its flight is wild
whirI abruptly cut at right angles, What
is to be done? How to end this? A
tempest ceases. cyclone passes. wind
falls, broken mast is replaced, a leak is
stopped, fire dies out; but how to con-
troll this enormous brute of bronze? In
what way can one attack 1t?
You can make mastif hear reason,
astound bull, fascinate boa, brighten
a tiger, soften lion; but ehere is no re-
source with that monster, a cannon let
loose. You cannot Kill lit IS dead; at
the same time it lives. It lives with a
sinister life bestowed on it by lnfinity.
The planks beneath 1t give it play Lit
is mored by the ship, which is moved by
tie sea, which is moved by the wind.
This destroyer is plaything. The ship,
the waves, the blasts. all aid it; hence its
frightfuf vitality. How to assail this
fury of complication How to fetter this
moustrous mechanism for Wrecking a
ship -? How foresee its comings and 60
ings, it's returns, its stops, its shocks?
Any one of these blows upon the sides
may stave out the vessel. How divine
its awful gyrations! One has to deal
with projectile which thinks, seems to
posses ideas, and which changes it's direc
ton at each instant. How stop the
course of something which must be avoid
ed? The horrible cannon filings itself
about, advances, recoils, strikes to the
right, strikes to the left. fees, passes,
disconcerts, ambushes. breaks down OBJ
stacIes brushes men like flies. The great
danger of the situation is 10 the mobility
of its base. How combat an inclined
plane which has earprices The ship,
80 to speak, has lightning imprisoned in
its womb which seeks to escape; 1t is like
thunder rolling above an earthquake.
In an instant the whole crew were on
foot, The fault was the chief gunner S;
he had neglected to fix home the screw
nut of the moorlng chain, and had so
badly shackled the four wheels Of the
carronade that the play given to the sole
and frame bad separated the platform,
aud ended by breaking the breeding.
The cordage had broken. so that the gun
was no longer secure on the carriage.
Tue stationary breeching which prevents
recpil was not in use at that period. As
a heavy wave struck the port, the car
rcnade, weakly attached, recoiled, burst
its chain, and began to rush wildly about
Conceive; in order to have an idea ofthls
strange sliding, drop of water running
down pane of glass.
At the moment when the ,ashlngs
gave way the guuners were IN the bat
terry, some In groups, Others standing
alone, occupied with such duties as
sailors perform in expectation ofthe com
mand TO clear for action. The carbonate,
hurle,. forward by the pitching, dashed
into this Gnot Of men. and crushed four
at the same blow; then, flung back and
shot out anew by the rolling, it cut IN
two fifth poor fellow, glanced of to
The larboard side; and struck piece Of
battery with such force as to unship IT,
Then rose the cry of distress which had
been heard The men rushed toward
the Iadder-the gau-deck emptied In
the twinkiiug of an eye The enormous
cannon was left alone She was given
up to herself. She was her own mistress,
and mistress Of the vessel. She could
do what she wil!ed with both. This
whole crew, accustomed to laugh Ia battle.
tremble now. 70 describe the universal
terror would be impossible.
Capt. Boisberthelot ana Lieut.. Vieu-
vile, although both intrepid men. stop
ped a5 the head OF the stairs, and remain
ed, mute, pale, hesitating, looking down
on the deck. Some one pushed them
aside with his elbow aud descended
1t was their passenger. the peasant,
the mar of whom they had been speak
;pg a moment haforp