Little Falls transcript., 1885-06-12

1F f1appAly Tor the Heet and Tor the cOun-@
try, there was 8 man In command that
day equal to. the emergency o man
whose eagle eye grasped every detail Of
the fight, while he possessed the skill to
direct and the nerve and ability to- exe-
cute. There was no time for doubt or
delay. Had he hesitated, the fortune 81 /
the day must have been against MS. The
Admiral was standing IN the futtock.
shrouds, under the main top--a position
above the smoke, from which he could
take in the whole situation, and could
communicate With the pilot in the main
top, and with the Fleet Captain and exc
cutive officer on the deck beneath. For
several years there has been . discussion
in the papers and magazines Of the co,an-
try as to the Admiral's being "lashed to
the rigging The writer has no light
to throw on the subject Farragut was
standing in the shrouds, as described.
when the writer went on deck, and he
remained there until the Hartford had
PASSED beyond the range of the fort; but
there were not more than two or three
persons on board who knew anything
about his being fastened in place. The
first heard Of il in the fleet was some
three or four weeks after the fight, when
the New York papers were received.
Various runlois have been circulated as
bo the fact, one Of which was that the
Admiral took rope send with him when
he went aloft, aud secured it so as to
prevent his falling ON deck in case of ac-
oideat. This is the story which was cur
rent on shipboard at that time and was
generally believed. Since the incident has
been under discussion in the papers the
g real facts - in the case have been made
known, and will stand IN history on the
una,estioned authority of Fleet Captain
Drayton and of Flag g-LieutenantJ J. Crit
tenden Watson, Of the Admiraps staff.
Thisist to the effect that Capt. Drayton, ,see-
ing the Admiral in the riSgsslg, and fear
ing he might be killed by a fall on deck
in case he were wounded, ordered an old
lauarterlnaster to take a ropes end aud
secure it around him, 50 that he would
be prevented from falling. The writer
is disposed to believe that the Admiral
was so absorbed in watching the fight
that he did not know at the mo1neat the
precautions taken for his safety by his
Fleet Captain. Bat whatever doubt may
attach to this particular incident - OF
which 50 much has since been made,
while so little was thought Of it at the
time 49, there is NJ, chance for doubt as
to tie Admiral's action. Finding that
the Brooklyn did not start ahead, he
hurriedly inquired OF Pilot Freeman, in
the main-top, it there was depth enough
for the Hartford to lass to the lett OF
the vessels in front. Receiving an af-
tirmatiyereply, he said, - viii take the
lead," and immediately ordered the ship
ttahead fast" -@|
On board q wa1 steamer the engines
are directed by the tap of bell, the
wires connected with which lead to the
quarterback. One stroke of the bell
means ego ahead two, stop" three,
''baok !" and four, ego ahead as fast as
possible. as Leaning down through the
shrouds to the officer on deck at the bell
pull, the Admiral shouted, Four bells,
eight belts, SIXTEEN BELLS! Give her
all the steam you've got. The order
vas instantly transmitted, and the old
ship seemed imbued with the Adauirals
spirit, and, running past the Brooklyn
and the monitors, regardless Of fort,
ram, gunboats and the unseen Toe be.
meath, dashed ahead, all alone, save for
her gallant consort, the Metsoomet. -
Frons an 9 .''44ngust Moyniqg sexth Far
ragut," by e. G. Kinney, sss Se,i1aer's
Nagasi,se. j.. "".~.'' 4. ftr%