Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-09-26

Phtt0defphid Press, Sept. 81.
1t may or may not be a matter of pro-
found surprise to Mr.. Preston. the HAY
tian Minister, to learn that the gunboat
Dessalines, which is expected to leave
the shipyard of Neafie & Levy this week,
for Port-au-Prince, Hayti, has not only
narrowly escaped being blown to atoms,
but even now stands a fair chance of
never reaching the agents of the govern
ment which has but partly purchased
her. George HOlgate, the celebrated
maker Of dynamite machines, who resides
III this city, said yesterday that had the
vessel attempted to sail from this port
under Haytian cOlors she would have
been certainly doomed to destruction in
mld-ocean. Holgate had been employed
by Sautar, one of the leaders of the reVo-
lutIOnists in the stormy little West In
dian isle, to make an Internal machine of
more than ordinary deadly power, and he
tells VIVID story of the preparations
which were made to explode the craft.
The Dessalines, as is well known, is a
reconstructed merchantmen, formerly
owned by Warner IL Merritt, the fruit eX-
p0rters, and was for number of wears
engaged in the West Indian trade, sailing
as the Ethel, The Haytian Government
contracted for her re-equipment as war
vessel, and agreed to pay for her S150. 0O0
OF this sum $4,000 has been already paid
the balance should be forthcoming when
the vessel reached Port-au-Prince. The
process of reconstruction was begun sew
eral months ago. The original agreement
was that Haytian crew should man the
boat here, and that she should be paid for
before leaving this port.
sAUTAR's SECRET VISIT.
Hearing of this, Sautar, who is now in
New York, came to Philadelphia and paid
a secret visit to the shipyard. He was
discovered through n letter sent from
New York, and both of the before-men-
TONED plans were Immediately modified.
Sautar set about devising other tactics.
The Consul received instructions from
Minister Preston to equip the vessel with
an American crew. When this had been
done, it was ascertained by the merest
chance that among the crew were two
agents of Sautar. The Consul called the
Captain into consultation, told him to
discharge the crew, and warned HIM to be
exceedingly careful III obtaining sailors
of whose reliability there could be no
doubt. This was done, or at least a crew
has been selected which has the entire
confidence of both the Captain and the
Consul.
Finding himself again foiled, Sautar
went to IOlgate, as the latter admitted
yesterday, and asked him if he could
make an Internal machine capable of be-
ing struggled aboard the boat and of suffi-
cient power to destroy it utterly. Holgate
agreed to construct such a machine, not
asking, of course, for what purpose it was
to be applied. The machine was made.
1t was what is known as a fOur-daY
machine. In construction it was pecu-
liar. 1t resembled an ordinary lump of
coal, within which was the explosive
liquid, enclosed in u galvanized can Of
Nh 1oI rI,p =
exploding the composition were
most ingenious. A vial of sub
tie chemical was 50 adjusted to
circular falling into a slot upon the disk
of tiny brass wheel, revolving by
means of clock work, that at the end Of
ninety-siX hours the vial would be broken,
spilling its contents upon the liquid.
This latter was new invention of HOl-
gates. 1t was of an amber color, of the
consistency of kerosene. HOlgate refuses
to disclose the nature of the composition,
but says that it contained 30 per cent. of
nltrO-glycerine. For one week HOlgate
labored upon his machine. When it was
completed he showed it to Sautar, who
was delighted with it. 1t possessed an
explosive force equal to 900 pounds of
dynamite.
PLACING THE MACHINE.
Sautar and the inventor consulted to-
gether several times, and the former de-
termined that the innocent-looking lump
should be placed in the coal intended for
use on board the vessel. The arrange
ments to this end were skilIfully carried
out. Two men, both cOlOred, were en-
plOyed by Sautar to place the apparent
lump of coal in the hold of the vessel.
The men found no difficulty, under cover
of night, in obtaining access to the yard,
and located the vessel. The next night.
N4rn al -1a.xr ,f,rl,A
have placed the Internal machine along
with the coal outside the vessel. 1t was
identified by means of red nick, looking
like quartz sDeck, upon one portion of
the outside. A member of the crew had
been bribed to set the machine the first
night after leaving port, and he was to
keep general supervision over it.
On the next day, however, it was an
nounced that the boat would sail under
the American flag, and that she would
not pass into the possession of the Haytian
Government until her arrival at POrt-au-
Prince. This announcement so frightened
both Sautar and those concerned with
him in the plot that the bogus lump of
coal was returned to Holgate, who dis
posed of it for $1,000 to the agent of the
Cuban revOlutiOnists. 1t was carried
away on a New Orleans steamer, and is
now, Holgate thinks, in Cuba.
Sautor next got HOlgate to make an
eight-day Internal machine, which he car
ried with him to New York last week
This machine will be carried out to Hayti,
in steamer, by one of SautOr's agents,
Spaniard named COlquinnez. Itpossible,
il will be placed aboard the Dessalines at
POrt-au-Prince. Holgate says that
there is no doubt but that Sau-
tar's scheme was discovered or least
suspected, maybe through the treach-
cry of the sailor who was to have
''wound up the apparent lump of
coal, and that it was this discovery which
led to the plan to sail the boat under
American cOIOrs. He has already sent
several of his machines to the Haytian
rebels, and is now engaged in making
two more, into which he will introduce
his new explosive liquid. He talks unre-
servedly of the plot relating to the Dessa-.
lines, but says that he had nothing to do
with it beyond the making of the machine,
for which he was actually paid $1,000.
More than month ago Mr.. LennOx, the
Haytian Consul, in a conversation with a
Press reporter, told him that Sautar, the
agent of the TeYolutiOnists, had been seen
in this city, but that he had not been able
to discover his object, although it might be
presumed.