Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-05-05
II was l ,nas plew up rna1 1unsn

4 IT was tAos oACW aP t44SAS = Va AAoa
| man-of-war.'
| He emphasized each word and watched
| my face closely, as il to seize the impress
| sion he was creating.
-You.,
1T was horrible thing, was it not-a
horrible thingt7
Again he lapsed into silence a moment;
then he continued:
~Oh; what would l not give never to
| have done that, You admire me, l have
heard too much praise about il; have
! been too often told that was hero-yes,
! a hero. l got rewards, decorations, pro
motions. Well, / would give all have,
and do not know how much more also,
never to have done that thing. Listen,
am going to tell you how it happened
And he began-evidently not 80 much
with the idea of interesting me, as of clear
ing his mind by making me his confidant
to relate the incident rs follows:
1T was on the Danube, you will remem-
Der For several days We had remained
moored near the Turkish iiotilla, few
kilometres only from il, but hidden from
each other by the curves of the river, you
might almost have called it a sea. il is SO
wide and deep at that particular point.
We watched each other pretty closely; we
kept well upon our guard But maneuv-
ering is difficult there on account of sand
banks; and surprise was really not 10 be
feared AT all Still, we all expected To be
attacked by the Turks, who were far more
numerous and better armed. They did
not come. Then we made up our minds
10 attack thefs with torpedoes was Sc
lected to command the longboat that was
to make the attempt. For in those days
the torpedo was not the instrument with
which you are familiar to-day. II was a
much simpler affair. but also much less
easier TO use. The torpedo had TO be
placed right against the side of the vessel.
and then fired with n battery, while the
attacking party got away as best they
could
Il started in the middle of dark nigh,
black, profoundly calm-in the solemn
silence of the vast plains which environed
us. Ny men were fellows of tried courage
and rcsOlve-men on whom l could RELY;
and / was full u. hope. Nevertheless the
undertaking was difficult one: and our
commander, as he pressed my hand at the
moment of our departure, saying, L COM
mend you to the grace Of God!' could not
conceal his emotion. We had either to
succeed, or, indeed, if the Turks observed
the attempt in time, the chances were that
none of Us could escape. But, for all that,
only felt thrill of pleasure. Think Of il
trying a new system Of attack, in
augurating a revolution in the navy, |
And then, again, IL we succeeded, what a |
result,-:he idea of destroying a great |
man-of-war with long boat!
The oars were wrapped with tow; we |
made no noise, and we proceeded on our |
way with unshakablc resolution. Finally |
| could distinguish the Turkish nc;illa |
The admiral's vessel WAS in front, in the |
first line. It's enormous mass made Il great |
black shadow against the still water. II |
was the flagship had selected for attack |
there was no sound, absolutely none |
They never suspected anything: they /
never dreamed Of any danger. And they |
had scarcely any lights. They were an |
chored there, in the most peaceful, unsus
pecting way possible.
I'VE approached. At that moment felt |
my heart beating very fast; l was certain |
of success. Ny men rowed on softly,
si!ently-without one false movement
without breath, We came right close to |
them; and still they had observed nothing.
fixed the torpedo. OH when pushed IL
against the side of the ship what a furious
joy felt | would have liked TO yell at
them-to taunt then-but theyjob was not
yet finished. We turned round, the sail
OTIS all bent to their oars, and few yigor
Gus sweeps sent us far away from the
Turk. Then, all Of sudden, there was a
terrible tumult on board the ship-a terri
rible outburst Of noise. The sentries ut
tered frightful cries. Torpedo they
shouted in their language-'torpedof
~ mn CT Tall bar tho Turks know
ing very little about torpedoes. had the
most fearful fancies concerning them. A
torpedo was, to their imagination. a fan
tastic engine Of death and destruction II
was indeed-in very fact! They did not
even have presence of mind enough 10 fire
on our boat when we were still only
cable's-length away from them; and the
moment ! found we were at the strictly
necessary distance, / let loose the electric
current, and Immediately cry went up
horrible, superhuman. OH that cryl-no,
noi-yOu could never conceive anything
like it, you could never imagine it, am
bTaye-you can believe me in that; am
afraid of nothing-but that cry-ohl And
everything was swallowed everything;
the ship and the crew, the officers aud the
sailors, simultaneously with that hideous
cutlery of terror. of horror
He clapped both hands, closing his ears
rs in frenzy; and his eyes. fixed by the
ineffaceable vision Of that recollection,
stared wildly before him.
What a frightful thingl7 said. myself
deeply impressed "And were there many
ON boardyT
"Many2-how do knows And further
more, what do / caref-that is no; the
thing which torments me. Destruction,
death; that is waT-necessary, unayuid-
able. The thing that terriiies nie--the
thing can not ret rid offs that hde0us
clamor out Of the blacknessi II puFsucs
me still. increasingly Would IL not have
been better 10 have gone down with the
ship, Better 10 die, IL is haunting me
never leaves me. Sometimes in The day,
even in the midst Of the sunlieht-wtiie
everything il luminosity and life around
mel have to stop, 20 close my eyes, and
listen TO it-that horrible cry Bat it is
worse by night, in the darkness When
any sound comes to my ears, it il not
carriagc-rumhle that / hear, or "A call, Or
any other ordinary sound-no: It + the
Turkish crew roaring in the darkness
And 1t all happened years ago. a long time
agO. but | can not forget i'll vii never,
never lie able to forget il.
lie istiu7s-l a ftloIttut- tnsft. lktu- Nls
frightened eyes upon me, asked, with a
strangely suppliant tone in his voice:
What shall dor Tell met-what can
/ possibly dof See,-would ] not be able
to-but mott is not impossible never,
With a great effort he seemed 10 cain
himself: but the glass slipped from his
trembling hand, to shiveF Itself upon the
carpet A waiter hastened forward. and
brought another glass which he proceeded
t. fill
All possible toasts Ind been drunk. si.u
the party continued b drink Bottles Of
champagne were being Continually
emptied; and quantities OF kummel dis
Il was sufTocatirgly hot In the apart
ment, under that iron ceiling
They opened the port-boles. 4 cnol
Whit Of air rushed into our faces ass-
wind. fun Of keen doors. cool and refresh
ing. And suddenly, from n neigisi,oFiBg
ship, rang out a cTy-a seutTy's cry-lOng-
drawn, moiuiated. solemn Ny neigl1tsor,
who had seemed almost unconscious,
seized nay arm, squeezed il hard, and
bringing his fsce close TO rhine again, ex-
claimed Ia = CHASTITY whisper. do yo1
hear il, Do yoa hear it, His eyes grew
larger: q Wild terror contracted his face.
The fine glass he held In his hand burst
into pieces between his fingers. and. let