Omaha daily bee., 1882-09-08

Dali. Inc lhCSllulAIY nHu nepl ~
work and had already wrought greater
destruction than even the British
shells bad done.
"The next morning the British vcs-
sells renewed the bombardment at $50
o'clock, but at about 10 O'Clock a flag
of truce was hoisted AID the firing
ceased. 1t was under this flag Of truce
that Arab Bey and his troops escaped
from tho city. All the afternoon the
British fleet lay idle. At night u gun.
boat brought tho news of Arabs es-
cape and the Englishmen were full OF
Indignation at the trick that had been
played On them. Al about 10 o'clock
W camed around the fleet. A good
deal of fun has been male about Ad-
miral Nlcholson's exchange of courte-
sizes with Others In whose battle he had
not assisted, but, as a matter Of fact,
| believe no Just went around to give
an opportunity for gaining information
to the otficera and crews. As to the
courtesies, it is the etiquette of the
ocean highway that when American
aud English men-of-war meet the band
of each vessel plays tho national air of
tho country t. which the other be.
longs. In this case the English cheer.
ed us, and we returned the cheers.
We could not see much in the way of
damage. One or two of the vessels
had been hulled, and a plate or two
knocked off, but none of them had
sustained any damage to their top
hamper.
"The smoke still rose in volumes
from the burning city on the morning
of July -, and from u position we
could see q number of buildings in
ruins. The English sent off men to
clear the streets, and sailors and ma.
rines were also dispatched from our
fleet, fully armed, to Look after the
American property. The Lancaster
had returned to the inner harbor on
tho eecond day after tho lombard
meut. Food was sent ashore to our
men, who remained away for a wecA,
and Gen Stone was also supplied
from our vessel. ] did not 60 ashore
until the third or fourth day after the
bombardment. What 1 saw will re.
nam indellbly fixed in my memory.
The handsome streets through which
| had walked a short time before
then crowded with people, now de-
serted save by marines, sailors and
dogs-wero full of debris and house
hold goods of every kind. Charisd
beams, stones, broken furniture and
crockery were mixed up with absn-
doned chests of clothing, fruit, cigars
and fancy goods of all descriptions.
The shops were mostly deserted, the
doors and windows left wide open.
The seaman deserve credit for the
way they resisted temptation, for the
6ram-shops were ~tenantly less and en-
.irely at their mercy. The American
sailors were quartered at the Mehemet
Ali club, and added to their %rations
with what abandoned eatables they
came across, rather than allow them
to spoil. l saw n old sailor trot-
ting away to his quarters with a huge
side of pork across his shoulders.
"In the forts which l visited the
earthworks were knocked to pieces,
and the guns. which had been spiked,
were on their ends, with the carriages
tilted up. I believe this occurred ne
cause no apparatus was used by the
Egyptians to provide for the recoil.
Ammunition lay all around, but the
dead bodies had been removed and
buried. There must have been some
terrible sights in the streets the day
after the bombardment. myself saw
dogs eating dead bodies. | came
across n group in q street that struck
me az telling a dramatic tale. An old
man, in European dress, laid on the
ground against the curb, with his face
turned upwards. Around him were
tho dead bodies of seven or eight
Arabs, and from their relative posi-
tons it was evident that he had sold
his life dearly. There were 30 weap-
ons near the bodies; these had doubt
less been removed by hooters. At the
khedive's palace the damage wrought
had been great, though due principal
ly to one shell, which crushed through
the roof and went out by the wall.
The windows were all smashed and the
palace around was full of rubbish. i
left Alexandria in the Lancaster on
July "a, by which time English troops
had landed. We proceeded 10 Mes.
sina, and from there l came direct to
New York by the Anchor line steamer
Acadia"