The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1884-12-25

had now spread Itself rpar All fhe
hesvens. As the tine reempd fsvorn-
BE, ordered the + mt master 10 east
on Dark clouds now rose rapidly
over as, and enVel0ped a. in almost
total darkness, except when the sky
was lighted up By the welcome fash
e 81. vivid lightning, % show rs the
perilous way We were to take. Now
and then the dim outline Of the land
scape could be seen, and the forest
bending under the roaring storm that
came rushing up the river.
with our bow pointing to the
Island, we passed the lowest point Of
land without being observed, Il ap-
pears, by the enemy. All speed was
given % the vessel 70 drive her
through the tempest. The flashes Of
lightning continued with fEightful
brilliancy, and almost every second
wrote q correspondent, every brace,
pest, and outline could be seen with
startling distinctness, ,enshFOuded BY q
blush white glare Of light, aud then
her form for the next minute would
become merged in the intense dark
ness When opposite Battery No. 2,
on the mainland, the smoke stack
biazed up, but the fire was soon sub
dued. II was caused by the SCOT be-
coming dry. rs the escape steam,
which usually kept the stacks wet,
had been sent TO the wheel house, as
already mentioned, 70 prevent noise.
With such vivid lightning as prevail
ed during the whole passage, there
was no prospect Of escaping the
vigilance Of the enemy, but there was
good reason TO hope that be would be
unable 10 point his guns accurately.
Again the smOke-staeks took FIRE,
and were soon put out; and then the
roar Of the enemy's guns began, and
from Batteries No. 2-3, and 4 came
almost incessantly the sharp crack
and screaming sound Of their rifle
shells, which seemed 10 unite with
the electric batteries Of the clouds to
annihilate Us.
"Wnile nearing the island or some
shOal point. during q few minutes Of
total darkness, We were startled by
the loud, sharp order, Hard apOrt y
from our brave and skilful pilot, First
Master HOel. We almest grazed the
island, and Il appears were not OBJ
served through the storm until we
were close In, and the enemy having
no time 10 point his guns, fred at
random. In fact, we ran 30 near
that the enemy did not, probably
could not, depress his guns sufficient
ly. While close under the lee Of the
island and during q lull in the storm
and In the firing, one Of our pilots
heard a Confederate officer shout,
elevate your guns !! Yes, cOnfOund
you said the pilot in q much lower
Key elevate It is probable that
the muZZies Of those guns had been
depressed to keep the rain out Of
them, and the officers, not expecting
another night attack in such q storm,
and arriving late, ordered the guns
elevated just In time TO save US from
the direct fire of the enemy's heaviest
fort and this, no doubt, was the
cause Of our remarkable escape.
Nearly all the enemy's shot went over
rs.
Having passed the principal bat
teries, we were greatly relieved from
suspense, patiently endured, however,
by the officers and crew. But there
was another formidable obstacle IN
the way-a floating battery, which
was the great war elephant Of the
COnfedeTates, built to blockade the
Mississippi permantly. AS we passed
her she fired six or eight shots at US,
but without effect. One ball struck
the cOal-barge, and one was found in
a bale of hay we found also one or
two musket-bullets. We arrived at
New Madrid about midnight with no
one hurt, and were most joyfully re-
ceived by our army. At the sug-
gestiOn Of Paymaster Nixon, all
hands 'spliced the main brace