Little Falls transcript., 1886-07-23

II and sth6 sand III q III r67 Ind sIir,.s
Ipery With hl loo od pfg the ,lnded
and dyin8, they are dragged ar,lidship
out sof the way Of the guns, i'll tlere Is no
one and no ttilIie tu take them below.
! Deliriun seizes the crew; they trip to5
! their trousers, ftiie their hand dkerchiefss
round their heads, kick OF their shoes.
fight and yell like demons, load and
lire at will and keep SSup for the rest
OF the forty two minutes the ship Is
sinking, and Ere a. last gun as the wa
ter rushes into her ports. s3
The, ship sinks head foremost, sheIlists
over to port, the water is ankle deep
on the berth deck the ladders unship,
it is a scalnble to the soar deck, q 1
rush overheard, the boats pick up the
swimmers. The after pivot gun, Epiv-
oted to starboard, breaks lose, it
rushes down the decline OF the deck
like q furious animal, man is III the
track, he falls, the gun is on him,
crushes him, bounds overheard; there
is mass OF mangled flesh onthedeck.
The snip: sinks to her tops. j, The
boats pull for. shore, a shell knocks
away the head Of the wharf as the
boats approach it. The saved land.
instead OF q defeat, it is victory.
The whole camp is rushing to meet
them. with cheers, with embraces; the
soldiers bring to comfort them the
tirst thing they lay hold of, many of
them the panaceas of whisky and to-
bacco. The sailors are clothed and
fed and warmed-they have reached
home. And NO survivor will ever for
get the loving kindness of OUT compan-
ion, the colonel Of zouaves. and the
officers and men of that regiment and
OF the Troy regiment stationed at
Newport News-they gave their all,
and gave it twice theway they gave it.
In every rnan-Of-wa~ exist Jonathan
and David, Damon and Pythias friend
chips, called chummies In the begin
ming OF the action q man hopelessly
wounded is lowered down into the
cockpit! later On his chummy, with a
tiesh wound on his arm, goes down be-
low to have it dressed and to. see his,
friend. As he leans over him the dy-
ing man says: "Don't leave me John
n.y. and Johnny sits down by him,
takes him in his arms, stays with him,
goes down with hiin-and surely much
was forgiven them
The Merrimac turns to the Congress
She is aground, but she fires her guns
Till the red hot shot from the enemy
sets her on fire" and the flames drive,
the men away from the battery, She
has forty years ofseasoning. she burns
like a torch. Her commanding officer
Is killed and her deck strewn with kill
n1 81 =
shore; they drag the wounded under
the wnaard bulwark, where all hands
take refuge from the flames. The
sharpshooters on shore drive away a
tug from the enemy. The crew and
wounded OF the Congress. are safely
landed. She burns the rest Of the al
ternoon and evening, discharging her
loaded guns over the camp. At mid
night the fire had reached her maga-
zines-the Congress disappears.
When it is signaled to the fleet at
Hampton Roads that the Merrimac'
has come out, the Minnesota leaves
her anchorage and hastens to Join the
battle: Her pilot puts her aground
off Elizabeth river, and she lies there
helpless. The Merrimac has turned
back for Norfolk She has suffered
from the shot of the Congress and
Cumberland, or she would stop and
destroy the Minnesota; instead, with
the Yorktown and Teazer, she goes
back into the river: Sunday morning,
March 8, the Merrimac is coming out
to finish her work. She will destroy
the Minnesota. As she, nears her, the
Monitor appears from behind the
helpless ship; she has slipped ii. dur
ing the night, and so quietly, her pres
ence is unknown In the camp And
David goes out to meet Goliath, and
every man who can walk TO the beach
sits down there, spectators ofthe first
1ron-clad battle in the world. The
day is calm, the smoke hangs
thick on the water, the low YES
sells are hidden by the smoke.
They are so sure Of their invulnera-
blllty they fight at arms length. They
fight so near the shore the flash of
their guns is seen, and the noise is
heard of the heavy shot pounding the
armor. They haul out for breath
and again disappear in the smoke,
The Merrlmac stops firing, the smoke
lifts, she is running down the Monitor,
but she has left her ram in the Cum
berland. The Monitor slips away,
turns and renews the action. One
o'clock p. m--they have fought since
$50 o'clock a. m. The crews Of BOTH,
ships are suffocating under thearmor.
The frames supporting the irou> roof j
OF the Merrimac are sprung ard shat
tered The turret of the Monitor is
dented with shot, and isrevolved with
difficulty. The captain OF tho Merri-.
mac is wounded in the leg; thecaptain
of the Monitor is blinded with powder /. !.
It is a drawn game. The Merrimac,
leaking badly, goes back to Norfolk;
the Monitor returns to, Hampton
Roads.
s.
The Palace of Silence. -.
Away up on the hill that overlooks :
NAMES stands tho Carth,%sior Nonoa