Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1889-05-21

ftIsNfIs ~ Ntulu ~ urfit<e lu NtNtic
any further attention Co the crabs. cspc-
cially In their present positions hut II
the chief vessel of the syndicates ncct,
with it, spring aunor. and it, terrible
earthquake bombs. could H. destroyed.
Il was quite possible that those sca para.
sites. the erals. could also h. disposed of.
Every torpedo hoat was now orlercl
60 the front. and In a hong line. almost
abreast II each other. thcsc swift vessels
the light infantry II the sca-advancc,i
upon the solitary and distant foc II
one torpedo could bat rcach her hull. the
vicc admiral. In spite of seven disabled
irunclads and n captured gunlOai. might
yc. gazc proudly nj his iloaiing flag.
even II his own ship should L. drifting
broadsidc to the soa.
The line IT torpedo boats. slightly curv.
ing Inward. hal advanced alout mile
when Repcllcr No. n awokc from hcr
seeming slccp. ami bcgan to oct The
two gr,ai guns at her how worc trained
upward. 10 that a bomb discharged from
thcm would fall into the "a n mile and
a half ahead. Slowly turning her bow
from side o. side. 20 that the guns would
cover a range of nearly half circle. the
instantaneous motor bomls u the ~
pclicr wcrc dischargcl. one every half
minute.
One u tho most appalling character
btics u the motor bombs was the silence
which accompanied their dischargo and
action. SO noise was heard, except thc
1ash of sound occasionol by the removal
q the particles % tho object aimcl al.
and the subsequent ruar % wind or fall
% water.
A Zach motor bomb dropped into the
channel. dense cloud appeared high In
tho air. abovc a roaring. scc,hing cal.
drun. followed cat ~ the waters AMI out
~ the very bottom of the channel. Into
this chasm the cloud quickly came down.
condensed into vast body ~ water.
which fell. with tho roar of cyclone,
into the dreadful abyss from which Il
had bccn torn. bcforc tho Kissing walls
of the great hollow had half illcl Il with
their sweeping surycs Tho piled up
mas. of the redundant water was st.li
.cnding L. maddonod billows tossing and
Writhing IN every direction toward ,hc.r
normal level. when another lomb was
discharged. another suTging abyss aIs
Icarc,l. another ruaI of wind and water
was heard. and another mountain 20
furious billows upliftc,l itsclf In a storm
of spny and foam. raging that Il had
found o. place usurI-sl
slowly turning. the rcpcllcr discharged
bomb after botnb. building up cat ~ tho
very "a itself barrier against iis enc
nile. Under thcss laundering cata-
mcts, h0rn In an instant. and coming
down all At once Ia plunging stnrm.
into thc-o aby-scs. with walls - water
and foors Of cleft and shivcrcd rocks
through this vide bclI % raging turmoil.
thrown into new frenzy after tho dis-
charge u every bomb-no vessel. no tor.
pclo. could pass.
Tho air driven OH In every direction
by tremendous and successive ooncus-
sions came rushing hack In shricking
gales. which tore up the waves into
binding foam Tor miles IN every 10.
ruCiion the sca swcllol and uphsaycl
into great peaked waves. the rrTsllcr
rising upon thcsc almost high enough 10
look down into the awful chasms which
her boml~ we're making 4 torpedo
boai, caugh: In one ~ tho returning
gales. was hurlod forward almost on her
tram ends until shc was under the edge
u ono u the vast masses % descending
water. The nocd which. from even tho
outer limits of this falling "a, poured
upoh and into the unlucky vessel ocarly
swamIsI her. and when sho was swep,
back by the rushing waves into les
stormy waters. her officers aud crew
loat-,l into their loats and deserted her.
by rare god fortune their boats were
kept aAoat In the turbulent rea until
they reached the nearest torpedo vessel
Five minutes aftcrWard a small bui
carefully aimed motor bomb struck the
nearly swampd vessel. and with the
roar of all her own topcdocs shc rasscd
into nothing
Tho british vice admiral had carefully
watched the rrIcller through his glass,
and be noticed that simultaneously With
the appearance of the cloud In the air,
produced by the action Of the motor
bombs. there werc two pulls Of black
smoke from the rcpcller. These were
signals 10 the crabs 20 notify them that
a motor gun had bccn discharged. and
thus 10 provide against accidents In case
a bomb should fail to act. one pun sig.
nificd that a bomb had bccn discharged
10 the north. two. that II had gone east
ward. and - on. II. therefore. a crab
should So a signal Of this kind. and pr
ceiye no signs Of the action Of a bomb IL
would h. careful not 10 approach the TO
pcllcr from tile quarter indicated. Ii Is
true that la case of the failure Of bomb
To act. another bomb would - dropped
upon the same spot. but the instructions
of the war syndicate provided that every
possible prccauiion should he taken
against accidents
OF course the vice admiral did not un-
dcrsiand these signals. nor did ho know
that they were signals, but he knew that
they accompanied the discharge of a
motor gun. Once he noticed that there
was short Cessation In the hitherto con.
slant succession Of water ayalanches. and
during this lull he had sen two pulls
from the repellcr. and the destruction. at
the same moment. ~ the deserted torpedo
boat. II was. therefore, plain enough 10
him that II motor bomb could H. placed
70 accurately upon one torpedo boat, and
with such terrible result. other bombs
could quite as easily 10 discharged upon
the other torpedo boats which formed
the advanced line of the ilcct. When
the barrier Of storm and cataract again
began to stretch itself In front Of the
repcller, hc knew that not only was IL
impossible for the torpclo boats 10 send
their missiyes through this raging tur-
moil. but that each Of these vessels Vas
itselfin In danger of instantaneous destruc-
ton.
Unwilling. therefore. TO expose his
vessels to prodtlcss danger, the vicc
admiral ordered the torpedo boa,sto re-
tirc from the front. and the whole line
ofthem Proceeded To point north Of the
lect. where they lay 10.
When this had been done the repcller
ceased the discharge OF bombs. but the
sea was still heaying and tossing after
the storm. when dispatch boat brought
orders from the British admiralty 10 the
dag ship Communication between the