Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1885-10-11
AN EXCITING CHASE
A GRAPHIC sToRY'oF ADVENTURE
IN BLOCKADE RUNNING.
Pelted Persistently with Shells by -Four
Big Yankee Men-of- War, with FIJI
teen Hundred Barrels OF Pow.
der in the Hold.
New Orleans Tines-Democrat.l


ade-runuer bound for Galveston" said Mr.
Frank Won Paul to group OF old Confed
crate soldiers. "The captains name wa
! Barnard, and he was from Philadelphia
We i:au!el olt past the Moro castle just a
day wa Lrsaking Our course was laid S,
a. u strike the beach oh annel at the end o
Galveston island, AMI after a quick run W
/ founI ourselves at its entrance one nigi
about O'Clock without a breath of air stir
ing. 1t was de Id cain We knew W,
were in sight Of tie blocka ling fee: out
1 siie, and when daylight came they would
| surely see Us What made the situation al
Tie more exciting was TIE fact that the lit
/ tie schooner had on board as her carge
I5J0 barrels OF powler. and with it ], 81.
Eniieli rifles One she'll striking Us wouli
Lave ended the trip quite briefly.
Perhaps for those who do not know the
! cd channel down there brief description
of it will maks our jeooardy some what
! palmer. Running along the island about q
quarter Of n mile off shore was what wa
known as the beach channel, and Just out
side of this ran a sanl bar the whole length
Thi, dividing ridge, or lar, preclu1ei any
large vessel from running ia directly across
the bows OF a craft in thu channel Tooysr-
haul a vessel once in it it would be necessary
to run down and en.er as she did. A chai-
ing ship could. however, come UP abreast
outside tie bar and be within easy range Oh
the craft inside
The captain was very uneasy all night,
He said We were gone, for when daylight
broke they would open on US surely. From,
cur position they could see us plainly from
the masthead. We were about fifteen mile.
from Galveston at this time.
Between IL and O'Clock stiff breez
sprang up To take advantage of it yyc Sc.
every stich OF canvass AMI went boominzly
along handsomely The wind that aided
us, however. carried OF tine fog
Slowly the ma,ts of the blockading fee.
began to rise higher on tie horison. We
felt that cur fate was approaching. 1t wa
not Ing before their huils could be dis
cernei, four # them, all coming directly
for u. By this time We had made consider.
able distance toward Galveston, and wers
well in the channel The l:eavy ships could
not head US Oft OH account OF the bar he
tween us and them. SO they ran in as close +
the bar as possible. and lined up along il;
outside edge awaiting cur passage across tn.
line Of their fire
There had been heavy blow outside the
lay before anu there was still rough sec
running, which was greatly in our favor. al
It rendered their aim less accurate Inside
the bar We were in smooth water This wa
ths critica! moment and the captain was or
:le alert watching every man AMI every
ro1e.
We went bowling along before the eight
knot breeze, approaching tho line abreast
the first man-of war. Each stitch of can.
vas was drawing and every rope was taut-
The situation was anything but comfortable.
This having over 30 barrels Of gunpowi,r
was sufficient food for reflection. As soon
as we came fairly abreast of the fir,t shir
there va, huge cloud of smoke bursting
from her side, and even before the deep
boom OF the guns reached Us her shot AMI
shell whistled overhead and went plunging
into the rolling sand dunes on the island.
To make the scene all the moro exciting
quite number Of horsemen had congrs-
gate! on the bench, AM were yelling and
whoopins to Us to go on, and to shake her
up They were keeping us company along
tue shore when the first broadsid. was de-
liversd, and when great volumes of SAM
vera thrown Up by the shells the. it'll
Texas ponies di>appe red behind the hills
in a hurry. They reappsarei from tin,
to tins TO encourage Us on.
AS sooa "a the first vessel hal deliver u
let u have her other side. this fell short %
US some distance. Then she turned bow GA
and gave US her bow gun. With this the
aim was better, for tho shot went through
our mainsaii. Althou IA it tore a great
hole. it dil rot diminish our spsed much
ain Il few minutes we were in range of tls
seconi ship, and she gave US n salute also.
The heavy sea outsiie was much in our
favor. for they could not get the range well.
and either overshot or undershot us all the
time. The water arouni US was churnel
with shot, and the shrek of she'll was not as
musical as some things | have heard We
were all thinking Of that powder under
deck However, there was no manifestation
of excitement in any ons of the crow. All
were as cool as if thcy had been raised on
board n man-of-war
much quicker than it takes me to tell it
We cams within the range of the third shin,
and she opened. AMI then the fourth Then
all concentrated their fire on Us. The air
seemed full of missiles. Across the waters
came ths deep below of the guns, almost
continuou' in their roll. On shore now and
then horseman wouli ride out from be-
hind the sand hills AMI cheer us on. waving
his hat wildly and making his pony 20
through his cavortings and plnnginga
fragments of she'll struck us in more than
forty places. Luckily for III they were
mostly small bits. AMI did no particular
damage. Their bow guns always did the
best shooting, and a Considerable portion OF
our rigging was cut up by them.
IN short time the flagstaff of South bat
terry showed ahead, and naturally we were
on the lookout for our friends to open on
the ships Yet on We went, nearer and
nearer, and not gun was firei by the Con-
Il A
waving from the several stations along the
beach a We passed., alI aisD a signal cfiic.r
in the battery answering. but still no gun.
As we nearei South battery the city Of
Galveston came into view. 1t was grant
sight The heavy fire outside lad alarmei
everybody. and the people hal turnsi out
Ell inasse, thinking pe:lap' that the long
looked for attack on the city had commenced.
Vita cur slas es we could distinguish
groups OH the church spires, on roof, and,
in tact. on every elevate point OF vantage.
Ii seemed a, il tee wacis population was on
the hon et'p' or Oh the beach. Going at
the >pAei we were il did not take
long frr u t. reach Fort H1gru-
der As wa nearei it we Jaw a movement,
and wni.s ware looking big columbad
was run out Of a cassmate and fiery cl)nl
of smoke belchei on: from its mourn. fol-
lowed by a deep resouniing -boom'
Away ont over the waves the heavy shell
sped AMI was seen 20 throw up the water
very clr t. one Of the ships This was
enough for the feet, for Immediately every
We sci head d OF shore AMI put to sea. being
soon hull down in the distance.
1T is heelless to lay we received a hearty
welcome when We landed Gen. MagrEder
sent down his congrstulations. and invited
us to a receipt n that night Commoio lore
Smiti. think il wa. came down him III
T. welcome Us IL wa. from HIM that we
learned tie Ts1S,l WI; -&s iu.l batter
hal not op,;.ei or tss cha N, vessels. u
was though; :lat h. eplg -iles; the b.ocS-
alers mielt be lurel vithin easy range ali
s.,lis substantial tamas, lole 10 them
An ,Hecinie of Beau Brummeii.
The Catererl
Your dinner. sir, Why here IS your bill
Tor that which YOU sec. with the wines,
amounts t. three poulis ten. and this you
have tanned ms is only shilling
~Ye,. | zee it, only ,hill'n-.' said Beau.
locking curiously q; the coin which the
landlord held up to him between hi thumb
and finger. hut | can't help that You
told ms | could have dinner for my
money. ami | assure you. on the honor OF a
gentleman. that little coin is all the money
posses By some unacconn:able accident
it happens - be only -hiiliny; wish. fer
your sake, j; was something el>e.
4 puzzled. angry look cane over tie face
OF the landlord for moment and then gave
place TO a broad grim
We'll. ] suppose this might be eallsi 4
joke, en-, one Of the very good, IL not very
funny sor: Yoar nam, is
~Brummeu, eir; Bean Brunmen. a. your
service
4 thought 50. Wei, Mr. Bramm-il. 81
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