The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-04-21

nee a Week and published By special arrangement
n. All rights reserVed.I
( Nsh 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 a
certain way suffered from the manner in
which the battle in the channel had been
conducted Every newspaper urged that
Il 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. But as the repeller
had not fired q single shot at the fleet, and
as the battle had been fought entirely
by the crabs, there was every reason to
believe that if there were such things as
motor guns their range was very short,
not IS great as that Of the ordinary dyna-
mite cannon. The great risk run by one
If the crabs in order TO disable dyna-
mite gunboat seemed 81 additional proof
II this.
1t was urged that the explosions in the
water might have been produced by tor
pedoes; that the 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 i'm
perative on the syndicate's forces. To
firmly establish the prestige Of the in
Simultaneous 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 armor
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 the powers Of absolute annihila
ton possessed by the instantaneous mo-
tor bomb.
About O'Clock on the appointed morn
ing Repeller No. 11l 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
syndicates vessel had concentrated atten-
ton upon Caerdaf in order to go over to
Ireland to do some sort OF mischief there.
It was presumed that the crabs accom-
panied her, but as they were now ct their
fighting depth it was impossible 10 see
them at so great e distance.
But it was soon perceived that 2epel-
Ter No. II had 10 intention Of running
away, nor OF going over to Ireland.
From slowly cruising about four Or five
miles OF shore she had steamed west
ward until she had reached 4 point
which. according to the calculations Of
her scientific corps, was nine marine
miles from Caerdaf. There she lay to
against a strong breeze from the east.
1t 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
| living near them. The director reflected
a 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, 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. j
As the cloud began to settle, it was
borne out to sea by the wind, and then it
was revealed that the Notifications of
Caerdaf had disappeared.
In ten minutes there was another
smoke signal, and a great cloud over the
castellated structure on the other side of
the bay. The cloud passed away, leav-
ing a vacant space on the other side OF
the bay.
The second shock sent 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 a few of the bravest
civilians, the reporters of the press, and
the naval and military men.
The next motor bomb descended into
the fishing village, the comminuted par
ticles of which, being mostly of light
material, foated far out to sea.
The detachment of artillerists who had
been deputed to man the guns on the
heights which commanded the bay, had
been ordered to fall back to the noun
tains as soon as it had been seen that ii
was not the intention of the repeller to
send boats on shore. The most courage
GUS of the spectators trembled a little
when the fourth bomb was discharged,
for it came farther inland, and struck
the height on which the battery had
been placed, removing all vestiges of the
guns, caissons, and the ledge of rock on
which they had stood.
~ ~O1O
NSssASY- NI ISL