Mexico weekly ledger., 1882-11-09

ItOSr4 yAA ATTT %1AM'
ltd hais fynk bal nj q 5nsh i.
.$isibie. = That same profound silence
.sthst stiffness which .tsies brave
! nerves fssse eok thsnths con.
fusion Of battle. One by one the
iosher sashtcreepnp end ssspSp@t,
and ten thousand men whisper te
eacF other:s sssG .
{, What does it hseans Why aon'l
they fire?" a.
al O. "A. FAIR FIGHT. a
AS has been written before, the at.
tack had been anticipated for days
and sprorideaofor 'Instructions had
been sent to eyerY. eenfedarate work
Deciding for hs anallest astails,
The confederates wanted fair fight.
They yxantsdstos sissstbe iror-elads q
fair chance m test taeiir strength
The building Of these monsters fright,
'ened the souH. Ifsfhsy cond Vii
the TORS and batteries Ia a fair fehI
the fears would be well founded. II
they could be beaten off they would
no longer be a bugaBo ia,
structions rere toilet &
advance . sirelI
without ses Il
/ rHE rIRsf Gpa. VI -
The head 81 the advancing line Il
full within the harbor Of Charlestoi
and within. range Of every fort on
Sullivan's Island before the silence il
broken. Then apuff Of smoke shoot.
straight out from the rampats Ioi
Moultrie, followed by second, third
ana fourth, and the mightest fight Of
the century has opened. It is IRON
clad and turret and ironsitie againss
brick and stone and sand. r" "~
rgfn4 THE oBsTRUeTIeNs.
Rumors had reached the, federals
of obstruction in the channel, but, d
credited, no one knew what they were
nor how placed. The .instructiors
from Dupont expected sat least batl
the feet to pass Fort Sumter and fire
upon it from the rear. 1t was only
when the WeehaWken steamed ahead
for this purpose that the piles, nets
and torpeaoes were discovered. 7 la.
deed, the iron-cIad had picked up 8
seine with her wheel and was de.
prived of all motive power before tle
character of the distractions were
fully known. Thus foiled and 'un.
manageable, the iron monster drift.
with the current, and the fire of bel
guns as she drifts seems like signals
Of distress. S 47's% sSas@
! The Ironsides comes up and tries
the other channel, followed by two
others, and in seeking to evade TIL
Instructions there j. a collision sni
an ENHANCEMENT, and for twenty min.
utes the whole three are under no,
fire, without opportunity to answer it
When disentangled and ID position tt
open fre tie real fight begins. Du
pont has discovered that it IS to be .
square fight and he accepts. Here
then, are die nine iron-clads within
The circle d eonfederaae fire. They
are supposed % be mpreenahle, ant
have ordnance warranted to knock
brick tort u pieces. Watch ne figh
we shall see.
slkzxIls rHE NonID
The hesviiest old hioned I ord
nance of The world is nosnt ppo,
the confederate forts and bate les
The mest e11sctIse guns d mo,ierr
date are in the turrets of the iron
clads.. Nearly eighty confedsrat'
cannon are beching their fire into ~
circle in which the nine iron-tlad
move slowly abeut like bewilderet
monsters of the deep-the iron-clad
answer with thirty-two guns.. his
roar which sways the tree-tops il
Charleston. It IS an earthquake
which raises bubblesof air aloniysia'
the blockaders seven miles away. /
is sound which rolls along The se'
for fifty miles. -, ....,
rBs ,4auuasDrsBoLis auasDors IL. .
On the iron clads they have cool.
settled down to their, work. Thirty
five pounds Of powder is placed il
one Of the monster guns, Eslo
weighing 450 pounds goes down afte
it, and the discharge seems to driv
the vessel ten feet. Think OF 45'
pounds of ,iron,wtipped with steel
driven square against Sumter By sucl
a weight Of powder at a distance Q
1000 yards Such a bolt would pas
|throngh ten lordpry brick walls Z
easily as q stone Mes througha d shee
of paper. The force of that blow j
|at least $4,000 tons, and it is vbein'
repeated onee IN 100 seconds froi
every one Of those thirty-two guns.
,, Here in. Fort SUMTER as<iH Moul
trie, Beauregard and other works
they are using great bolts with th
Brooke guns-soid, shot and grea
shells with the eleven-inch cannon
rifled, shots and bolts with the eEn
giish guns which hayefuh HE bbA
ade. AS the action continues. sun
ter brings seven ten-inch mortars in
/ u play. snd Moatfse tw6 nm no
the crash is terrific beyond descriI
ton. .zia Bs.a a s.ss sss o. Ssa8gssl
ai7l s rffEfsoxs1pFs. FIN y4ls 2
The fire from the confederates wa
At first byr battery. At the end {
ten. minute. .arl1enaxsxerezxiysHatosRy