The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-05-11

thousand miles Of England. 1t should
have been sun. in mid-occan, if its sink
ing had involved the loss of a dozen men
of-war.
In Amcricaa very strong feeling Of dis
satisfaction showed itself. From the first
the syndicate contract had not been popu-
lar, but the quick, effective and business
like action Of that body Of men, and the
marked success up TO this time Of their
inventions and their operations, had
caused a great reaction in their favor.
They had, so far, successfully defended
the American coast, and when they had
increased the number Of their vessels,
they would have been relied upon to con-
tinue that defense. Even ii British
armada had set out to cross the Atlantic,
its movements must have been slow and
cumbrous, and the swift and sudden
strokes with which the syndicate waged
war could have been given by night and
by day over thousands Of miles Of ocean
Whether or not these strokes would
have been quick enough or hard enough
to turn back an armada might be ques-
ton, but there could be no question Of
the suicidal policy Of sending seven ships
and two cannon to conquer England. 1t
seemed rs if the success Of the syndicate
had so pulled up its members with pride
and confidence in their powers that they
had come to believe that they had only
to show themselves to conquer, whatever
might be the conditions of the contest.
The destruction Of the syndicate's fleet
would now be a heavy Ylow to the
United States. 1t would produce an utter
want of confidence in the councils and
judgments Of the syndicate, which could
not be countoracted by the strongest
faith in the efficiency Of their engines Of
war, and it was feared that it might be-
come necessary, oven at this critical
iunctue, to aunul the contract with the
syndicate, and to depend upon the
American navy for the defense Of the
American coast.
Even among the men on board the syn
dicate's fleet there were signs of doubt
and approximations Of evil 1t had all
been very well so far, but fighting one
ship at o time was a very different thing
from steaming into the midst Of hun
dred ships On board the repeIler there
was now an additional reason for fears
and misgivings. The unluclly character
of the vessel when it had been the ITALIA
poosa was known, and not few Of the
men imagined that it must now be time
for some new disaster to this i'll starred
craft, and if her evil genius had desired
fresh disaster for her, it was certainly
sending her into good place to look
for it.
But the syndicate neither doubted nor
hesitated, nor paid any attention to the
doubts and condemnations which they
heard from every quarter, Four days
after the news of the destruction of the
Craglevin had been telegraphed from
Canada to London, the syndicate's fleet
entered tho English channel. Owing to
the power and speed of the crabs, Repel-
Ter No. II had made passage of the At
| lantic which in her old naval career
would have been considered miraculous.
Craft of various kinds were now
passed. but none of them carried Che
British flag. In the expectation of the
arrival of the enemy, British merchant
men and fishing vessels had been ad-
vised to keep in the background until the
British navy had concluded its business
with the vessels of the American syndi-
cate.
As has been said before, the British
admiralty had adopted a new method OF
defense for the rudders and screw pro-
pellers of naval vessels against the at,
tacks Of submerged craft. The work of
constructing the new appliances had been
pushed forward as fast as possible, but
so far only one of these had been finished
and attached to a man-of-war
The Llangaron was a recently built
ironclad of the same size and class as
the Adamant; and to her had been at
tached the new stern defense This was
an immense steel cylinder, entirely
closed, and rounded at the ends. 1t was
about ten feet in diameter, and strongly
braced inside. 1t was suspended by
chains from two davits which projected
over the stern Of the vessel. When sail
ing this cylinder was hoisted up to the
davits, but when the ship was prepared
for action it was lowered until it lay,
nearly submerged abaft of the rudder.
In this position its ends projected about
fifteen feet ON either side of the propeller
blades.
1t was believed that this cylinder would
effectually prevent q crab from getting
near enough to thapropeller or the rud-
der to do any damage. 1t could not be
torn away as the stern jacket had been,
for the rounded and smooth sides and
ends of the massive cylinder would offer
no hold to the forceps of the crabs; and,
approaching from any quarter, it would
be impossible for these forceps to reach
ruddCr or screw.
The syndicate's little fleet arrived in
British waters late in the day; and early
the next morning it appeared about
twenty miles to the south of the Isle of
Wight, and headed to the northeast as if
it were making for Portsmouth. The
course of these vessels greatly surprised
the English government and naval au
thorities. 1t was expected that an at
tack would probably be made upon some
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