The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1889-04-11

cox: catcher OF q locomotive, and V;,a cs2-
paJie Of being put 10 q somewhat similar
Use. It was the intention OF tic captail
OF the Adanant, should the crabs at
tempt to attach themselves to his stern,
to suddenly put Oh all steam, reverse his
engines and back upon them, the stern
jacket answering as q ram.
The commander Of the Adamant had
no doubt that i'll this way he could run
into o crab, roll it over in the water, and
when it was lying bottom upward, like
q floating cask, he could move his ship
to distance and make target Of it. So
desirous was this bravo snd somewhat
facetious captain to try his new plan
upon q crab that he forebore to FIRE upon
the two vessels Of that class which were
approaching him. Some Of his guns were
50 mounted that their nllzzles could be
greatly depressed and aimed at an object
IL the water not far from the ship. Bu5
these were not discharged, and, indeed.
the crabs, which were new ones Of TN
usual swiftness. were alongside the Ada
mant in an incredibly short time and out
Of the range Of these guns.
Crab was on the starboard side Of the
Adamant, Crab K was on the port side,
and. simultaneously, the two laid hold of
her. But they were not directly astern
Of the great vessel. Each had its nippers
fastened to one side of the stern jacket,
near the hinge like bolts which held it to
the vessel, and on which it was raised
and lowered.
In a moment the Adamant began to
steam backward, but the only effect Of
this motion, which soon became rapid,
was to swing the crabs around against
her sides and carry them with her as
the vessels were thus moving the great
pincers Of the crabs were twisted witt.
tremendous force, the stern jacket Oh
one side was broken from its bolt, and
or the other the bol5 itself was drawn
out of the side Of the vessel. The niDpers
then opened, and the stern jacket fell
from their grasp into the sea. shipping
il its fall the chain By which it had been
raised and lowered.
This disaster occurred SO quickly that
few persons on board the Adamant knew
what had happened. But the captain,
who had seen everything, gave instant
orders to go ahead at full speed The
first thing to be done was to get at 4 dis
tance from those crabs, keep well away
from them, and pound them to pieces
with his heavy guns.
But the iron screw propellerS had
scarcely begun to move in the opposite
direction before the two crabs, each now
lying at right angles with the length Of
the ship but neither Of them directly
astern Of her, made dash with open
nippers, and Crab J fastened upon one
propeller, while Crab K laid hold of The
other. There was q din and crash oI
breaking metal. two shocks which, were
felt throughout the vessel, and the shat
tered l:..l crushed blades OF the propcl-
lers Of t;.> great battle ship We're power
less to move her.
The captain of the Adamant, pallid
with fury, stood upon the poop. In a
moment the crabs would be at his rud-
der! The great gun, double shotted and
ready to fire. was hanging from its boom
over the stem. Crab K, whose roof had
the additional protection OF spring
armor, now moved round SO as to be
oi1CCtAp stotSj II VI IiIc -Ad.tIlStilt. II1O1G
she could reach the rudder her forward
part came under the suspended cannon,
and two massive steel shot were driven
down upon her with a force sufficient to
send them through masses of solid rock,
but from the surface Of elastic steel
springs and air buffers they bounced up
ward, one of them almost falling on the
deck of the Adamant.
The gunners Of this piece had been
we'll trained. In moment the boom
was swung around, the cannon reloaded,
and when Crab K fixed her nippars on
the ruddeT of the Adamant two more
shot came down upon her. As in the
first instance she dipped and rolled, but
the ribs OF her uninjured arnor had
scarcely sprung back into their places
before her nippers turned and the
rudder Of the Adcmant Was broken in
two and the upper portion dragged from
its f.s.enings: then q quick Eac,-v.>sE, !
jeri; snapped its chains and il was
dropped into the sea.