Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1880-09-30

pOdlulbS sOluSOl IODOIlcu Jlld
n all, especially the ladies, wer
b lin dire distress regarding thei
8 fate. Immediately sen
one of his jauntiest officers t
s lreassure them, and such was hi
8 success that ere many minute
q elapsed all his bright button
! were gone, clipped off as me
e mentoes by the fair passengers
The Ariel was an elephant upol
, Semmes' hands. He could no
burn her as he had no place t
| put the passengers. After keep
; ling her in company several day
hoping to capture vessels of
J lesser value in which the pas
, sengers could be sent home, h
] released her on 4 ransom bond
SINKING THE EATTERAS.
i Hoping to make dash a.
mong the transports of Banks
expedition, advertised to ren.
devious at Galveston,an which
eliminated in the "Red River
expedition" Semmes sailed to-
toward rdGalveston, nearing which
he found severa! Federal vessels
shelling it. One observed him
an,l came off i'll pursuit. Sem
mes enticed her out of reach of
her consorts and allowed her to
come within hailing distance,
and in reply to her hail, "What
ship is that?" answered: "Her
! Majesty's ship Petrol" An
Eanswer was returned from the
pursuer, but not understood by
the Alabama, whose crew had
been quietly sent to quarters.
At this juncture Lieutenant
Kell shouts through his trum-
pet: "This is the Confederate
States steamer Alabama" A
moment after the night air still
vibrant with his sonOrous tones
trembled under the shock Of his
commanded broadside. The en-
emy promptly replied, and for
about a quarter of an hour the
two vessels, Of nearly equal
metal and force, steamed along
side within pistol shot range,
their sides glowing with the
cannon's hot breath. AS the
Alabama's shot were seen to
scorch the vitals of the foe her
crew would yell: '"That's from
the scum. of England" and
.sThat's British pill for you to
swallow In high spirits they
handled their guns as they leap
ed III report and recoil, and re-
doubled their zeal when it was
passed along the line that the
Captain desired to know if they
were going to take all night to
sink that fellow. Seemingly
before the fight was well begun
the enemy fired a lee gun in to-
ken OF surrender and asked that
boats be sent to remove the crew
as the vessel was sinking. Aid
was sent, and all safely removed,
but not too soon, as the vessel
went down a few moments after
surrender. The enemy proved
to be the Hatteras. She had two
men killed and seven wounded,
was repeatedly struck, several
of the missiles passing entirely
through her. There was only
one man wounded upon the Ala
bama, which received several
shot, four of which were found
in the coal-bunkers. Some of |
the shell of the Hatteras were
found properly fused, it is said,
but full of black sand instead of |
powder. Sand is cheaper than
powder, and patriotism skulks
out of sight before wealth astride
of a contract.
INCIDENTS, sc.
Semmes' mail was irregular,
but very interesting. It gave
him the news Of the movements
for his capture, and told him
many secrets, such as the fact
that a ship and cargo, alleged
to belong to neutrals, were real
ly American. The consignors
should have sent their mail by
another vessel. Others exposed
the "true inwardness" of many
of the sales of vessels to foreign
powers. One of these last, sail
ing under the English flag, was
halted and her skipper ordered
to the Alabama. He refused to
come and as Semmes could not
a neutral captain to
come, he went in person to in
vestigate what was to every ap-
pearance American. This was the
first and only American vessel
Semmes placed his foot upon
while cruising for the Confeder-
ate States. The skipper not only
claimed bona fide sale of his
vessel to Englishmen, but that
ne was himself Briton, despite
she fact that his lank form and {
sharp features were no more ]
ike those OF the rotund John ,
Bull then a Berkshire hog is to
| Georgia "razor-back," whose {
owner prizes his gaunt frame {
md long legs chiefly because
hey enable him to outrun the Z