The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1889-08-02
Continued from last weci'.

laeruaif was IL place QlltlCult OF access
by land, the nearest railroad stations be-
ing fifteen or twenty miles away, but on
the day after the arrival of the syndi-
Gates fleet in the offing thousands of
people made their way to this part of the
country, anxious to scc--if perchance
they might find an opportunity to safely
see-what might happen at 10 o'clock
the next morning. Officers of the army
and navy, government officials, press
correspondents in great numbers, and
curious and anxious observers of all
classes, fastened to the Welsh coast.
The little towns where the visitors left
the trains were crowded to overtlowing
and every possible conveyance by which
the mountains lying back Of Cardiff
could bo reached was eagerly secured,
many persons, however, being obliged
to depend upon their own legs. Soon
after sunrise of the appointed day the
forts. the village and the surrounding
lower country were entirely deserted;
and every point Of vantage On the noun
tains lying some miles back from the
coast was occupied by excited spectators,
nearly every one armed with a field
glass.
A few Of the guns from the fortifca-
tions We're transported to al overlooking
height, in order that they might be
brought into action i'll case the repcller,
instead Of bombarding, should send men
in boats to take possession of the evacu-
atcd Notifications, or should attempt any
mining operations. The gunncrs for this
battery were stationed at Il safe place to
the rear, whence they could readily
reach their guns if necessary.
The next day was one Of supreme i'm
portancc to the syndicate. On this day
itmust make plain to tho world, not only
what the motor bomb could DO, but that
the motor bomb did what was done.
Before leaving the English channel the
director of Repcllcr No, i had received
telcgraphic ;dyiccs from both Europe
and America indicating the general drift
Of public opinion in regard to the recent
sea fight; and. besides these, many Eng
lish and continental papers had been
brought to him from the French coast.
From all these the director perceived
that the cause Of the syndicate had in
certain way suffered from the manner in
which the battle i'll the channel had been
conducted. Every newspaper urged that
if the repeller carried guns capable of
throwing the bombs which the syndicate
proposed to use there was no reason why
every ship in the British fleet should not
have been destroyed. Butt the rcpcller
had not fired 4 single shot Mt the fleet, and
as the battle had been fought entirely
by tho crabs, there was every reason to
believe that if there were such things rs
motor guns their range was very short,
not as great as that Of the ordinary dyna-
mite cannon. The great risk run by one
Of the crabs i'll order to disable dyna-
mite gunboat seemed an additional proof
of this.
It was urged that the explosions in the
water might have been produced by tor
pedoes; that tho torpedo boat which had
been destroyed was so near the repeller
that an ordinary shell was sufficient to
accomplish the damage that had been
done.
To gainsay these assumptions was iiii-
perative on tho syndicate's forces. To
firmly establish the prestige of the in
stantaneous motor was the object of the
war. Crabs were of but temporary ser
vice. Any nation could build vessels
like them, and there were many means
Of destroying them. The spring ar1nor
was complete defense against ordinary
artillery, but it was not defense against
submarine torpedoes. The claims of the
syndicate could be firmly based on moth
ing but tho powers of absolute annihila-
ton possessed by the instantaneous mo-
tor bomb.
About o'clock on the appointed morn
ing Repeller No. II, much to the surprise
of the spectators on the high grounds
with field glasses and telescopes, steamed
away from Caerdaff. What this meant
nobody knew but the naval military OBJ
servers Immediately suspected that the
syndicate's vessel had concentrated atten-
ton upon Caerdaff in order to go over to
Ireland to do some sort of mischief there.
1t was presumed that the crabs accom-
panied her, but Us they were now at their
fighting depth it was impossible to see
them at SO great q distance.
But it was soon perceived that Repel
Ter No. II had no intention of running
away, nor of going over to Ireland.
From slowly cruising about four or five
miles off shore she had steamed west
ward until she had reached q point
which, according to the calculations of
her scientific corps, was nine marine
miles from Caerdaff. There she lay to
against strong breeze from the east.
It was not yet 10o'clock when the Off
Ger in charge of the starboard gun re-
marked to the director that he supposed
that it would not be necessary to give
the smoke signals, as had been done in
the channel, as now all the crabs were
lying near them. The director reflected
moment, and then ordered that the
signal should be given at every discharge
Of the gun, and that the columns of black
smoke should be shot up to their greatest
height.
At precisely 10 o'clock, up rose from
Repeller No. II two tall jets of black
smoke. Up rose from the promontory
of Caerdaff, n heavy gray cloud, like an
immense balloon, and then the people
on the hill tops and highlands felt a
sharp shock of the ground and rocks be-
meath them. and heard the sound of a
terrible but momentary grinding crush. 9
AS the cloud began to settle, it was
borne out to sea by the wind, and then it
was revealed that the Notifications Of
| Caerdaff had disappeared.
In ten minutes there was another
smoke signal, and great cloud over the
castellated structure on the other side of
the bay. The cloud passed away, leav-
ing vacant space on the other side of
the bay. ...~<
The second shock sent q panic through
the crowd of spectators. The next earth
quake bomb might strike among them.
Down the eastern slopes ran hundreds OF
them, leaving only few of the bravest
civilians, the reporters Of the press, and
the naval and military men.
The next motor bomb descended into
~. .4slIae.e t1.o i,4nxl m =