The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-03-24

| the CRAPS, ana II nau been engaged IN
| laying private submarine cable, which
should put the Office of the syndicate in
New York in direct communication with
its naval forces engaged with the enemy.
Telegraphic connection between the
cable boat and Repeller No. l having
I been established, the syndicate soon re-
ceived from its director-in-chief full and
comprehensive accounts of what had
been done, and what it was proposed to
do. Great was the satisfaction among
the members of the syndicate when
these direct and official reports came in.
Up to this time they had been obliged to
depend upon very unsatisfactory intelli-
gence communicated from Europe,
which had been supplemented by wild
statements and rumors struggled across
| the Canadian border.
To counterfeit the effect Of these full
1cIIGz:: 78= :::=:;;.::ee5.::G2::cly made by the
syndicate to the government of the
United States, and bulletin distinctly
describing what had happened was is
sued to the people of the country. These
reports, which received a world wide
circulation in the newspapers, created a
popular citation in the United States, and
gave rise to serious apprehensions and
concern in many other countries. But
under both citation and concern there
was a certain doubtfulness. So far the
syndicate had been successful, but its
style of warfare was decidedly expert
mental, and its forces, in numerical
strength at least, were weak. What
would happen when the great naval
power of Great Britain should be
brought to bear upon the syndicate, was
question whose probable answer was
likely to cause apprehension and concern
in the United States and citation in many
| other countries.
The commencement of active hostil-
tiles had been precipitated by this syndi-
cate. In England preparations were
making by day and by night to send
upon the coast lines of the United States,
fleet which, in numbers and power,
would be greater than that Of any naval
expedition in the history of the world.
1t is no wonder that many people Of
sober judgment in America looked upon
the affair of the crabs and the repellers
as but an incident in the beginning of
great and disastrous war.
On the morning of the destruction of
Fort Pitcher the syndicate's vessels
moved toward the port, and the steel net
was taken up by the two crabs. and
moved nearer the mouth of the harbor,
1T point from which the fort, now in
process of evacuation, was in full view.
When this had been done, Repeller No.
, took up her position at moderate dis
lance behind the net, and the other YES
sells stationed themselves near by.
The protection of TIE 2et was consid-
cred necessary, for although there could
be no reasonable doubt that all the tor
pedoes in the harbor and river had been
exploded, others might be sent out
against the syndicate's vessels, and
torpedo under crab or a repeller, was
the enemy most feared by the syndicate.
About o'clock the signals between
the repellers became very frequent, and
soon afterwards a truce boat went out
from Repeller No. /. This was rowed
with great rapidity, but it was obliged to
go much farther up the harbor than on
previous occasions, in order to deliver its
message to an officer of the garrison.
This was to the effect that the evacua-
ton of the fort had been Observed from
the syndicate's vessels, and although it
had been apparently complete, one of
the scientific corps, with a powerful
glass, had discovered man in one of the
outer redoubts, whose presence there
was probably unknown to the officers of
the garrison. It was, therefore, earn
estly urged that this man might be in
stantly removed, and in order that this
might be done, the discharge of the mo-
tor bomb would be postponed half an
hour.
The officer received this message and
was disposed to look upon it as a new
trick, but as no time was to be lost he
sent corporal's guard to the fort, and
there discovered an Irish sergeant by the
name Of Kilsey, who had sworn an oath
that if every other man in the fort ran
away like lot of addle pated sheep he
would not run with them: he would
stand to his post to the last, and when
the couple of ships outside had got
through bombarding the stout walls Of
the fort, the world would see that there
was at least one British soldier who was
NOT afraid Of bomb, be it little OF big.
Therefore he had managed to eiude OBJ
servation, and to remain behind
The sergeant was SO hot headed IN his
determination to stand by thofort that
it required violence TO remove him; and
1t was not until twenty minutes past
that the syndicate Observers perceived
that he had been taken to the hill behind
which the garrison was encamped.
AS it had been decided that Repeller
No. 9 should discharge the next instan,
taneous motor bomb, there was an
anxious desire on the part Of the opera
tors on that vessel that in this, their first
experience, they might do their duty as
we'll as their comrades on board the other
repeller had done theirs. The mostAac-
curate observations, the most careful cal
culations, were made and rem ade, the
point to be aimed at being about the
center Of the fort
The motor bomb had been in the can
non for nearly an hour, and everything
mad long been ready, when at precisely
thirty minutes past O'Clock the signal
10 discharge came from the director-in-