Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1889-04-30

with fury. stood upon the poop In n
moment the erals would H. at his rud.
derl The great gIin. double shottcd and
ready to firc. was hanging from IL boom
over the stern. Crab X. Whose roof had
the additional protection of spring
armor now moved round ~ as Ia H.
directly asicrn of the Adamant Before
she ouuld rs,ch the udder her forward
part came under the suspended cannon.
AMI twO massive siccl shot wero driven
down upon her with a forco sufficient 10
send them through masses ~ solid rock,
bat from the surface oi elastic steel
spring. AMI air buiicrs they bounced up
warl. one ~ them almost falling on the
deck ~ the Adamant
The gunncrs of this piece hal been
well trained. In moment the boom
was swung around. tho cannon reloaded.
and when Crab X hAcd her nipp.rs on
the nl,ldcr Of the Adamant two more
shot came down upon her. A In the
hrst instance she dipped and rollci. but
the rils Of hcr uninjurcd arinor had
scarcely sprung hack into their places
lcforc her nippcrs turned and the
riddcr - H. Adaniant was broken In
two and The upper portion dragged FROM
IT, fas'onings. then a quick backward
JERK snapped H. chains and u was
dropprd into the "a.
A signal wa- now scnt from Crab ] 90
Repcllcr So. :. to the effect that the Ada
mant hal hccn rendered incapable ~
Eioaming of sailing. and that she lay sub
jet 10 order
Subject to order or not. the Adamant
did not rmain passive. Every gun On
board which could h. sufficiently de
pressed was made rcady 10 hro upon the
crabs should they attempt 30 ct away
-Four large hDats. furnished with machine
guns. grapncls and with various appli.
anccs which might H. brought into use
on a stocl plated roof ~oro lowered from
their dayits. and Immediately bsan fir.
Ing upon tho cxPDscd portions of the
crats Their machine guns were loaded
with small shcll. and N thcse penetrated
under the horizontal plaiss ~ a crab.
and through th0 heavy glass which was
supposed 10 10 In thcso interstico-, tho
crew of the submerged craft wOuld L.
SON destroyed
Tho qlick Go u the captain of thc
Adamant bal ri, scrvcl through his glass.
while the crabs Wcro siill at consider
able distance. their pro,rudins air piP's,
and be- had instructed the officers In
charge u tho boats to make an especial
aitacl upon thcsc. II Ito air pipos of n
crab could h. rendered uscless tho crcw
mus, inevitably d. smothcryi
Tut the brave captain did no, know
thai the CONDENSED air chamhers ~ the
crabs would supply their inmates for an
hour or moro without pS,oursc to the
outer air, and that the air pips-, fur
nishcd with valves 40 the top. we're
always Withdrawn under water during
y ;inn with nn enemy Nor dii be- know
tlat thc gl.s blocks under the arnor
plate. ~ the erals. which were placed
in uibl-r frames a. prUtoCt them from
conclusion above. wcru nlso guarded by
siecl netting from injury by small halls
Nallu.ly tia boat, bcset the crab.
kocping zap a constant fusilhdc and en-
doayoring a. throw grapnels over them.
IN one ~ thee should catch under an
overlapping armor plate u could h. con-
ncctcd with the steam windlass q the
AdamHni AMI plate might b. ripPed oil
90 crab overturned.
Bul the erals proved 90 h. much more
lively dsh than their enemies hal sup
posed. Turning. a. II on a pivot. and
darling from silc u side. they seemed
o. h. lly.ng Will thc boats. and not
irying tu rDi away from them. The
spring arnor of Crab X interfcrel some
what with IT, movements and also put IL
In danger from attacks by grapnels, and
IL therefore left most of tho work 10 it,
cOn-urt
Crab j. after daTting swiftly Ia and
out among her antagonists Tor some time,
Suddenly made turn, and dashing ai
one of ihc loats, ran under it, and rais-
Ing II on H., glistening back, rolled It,
bottom upward. into the sea. In a mo
ment thc crew II the boat were swim.
ming Tor their liyes. They wcro quickly
picked up by SNo of the other boats,
which then de,'mcd IL prudent to return
o. tn ahip
But llic second officer Of the Adamant,
who commanded tho fourth boat, did
not give up ihc fight. Having noted tho
spring armor of Crab X. he believed that
II he could get grapncl bctwccn it,
steel rils lic yet might capture the sca
uonstor For some minutes Crab X con
tented i,sclf with eluding him; but. tired
OF this. Il turned. and raising it, huge
nippers almost ont Of the water. IL seized
the bow II the boat and gave II a gentle
crunch. after which II released its hold
aud rptircd The boat, leaking rapidly
through two ragged holes, was rowcd
back 20 the ship. which 1t reached half
full q water.
The great hattie ship, totally bereft Of
the power II moving herself, was now
rolling In the trough of the "a, and a
signal came from the repoller for Crab
X 10 make fast % her and pui her head
TO the wind. This was quickly done, tho
crab a,,lclIiag itself 10 thc stern i.ost oi
the Al..mlut 10y pair Of towing nip
per- T. were projected from tho
stem of the crab. and were 70 constructed
that the larger vessel dill not communi'
cato al ~ motion 10 the smaller one,
and could not run down upon IL.
A. soon as the Adamant was brought
up with her head 10 the wind che opcned
ilrc upon the rcpsllcr Tho latter vessel
could easily lave sailed cut of the range
OF a mOtiOnlcss enemy. but hcr orders
forbade this. Her director had becn In
structed by tho syndicate 10 expose his
vessel % the fire of tho Adamant's heavy
guns Accordingly the repcller steamed
neanr. and turned her broadside toward
the British ship.
Scarcely had this been done when the
two great bow guns Of the Adamani
shook tho air with tremendous roars,
each hurting over the SEA nearly ton Of
steel. One Of thesc great thot passed
over the repcller. but the other struck
her nrnorcd side fairly amilship. There
was crash and scream of creaking
steel. and Iiepellcr No. rolled over q
windward AZ if she had been struck by 9
heavy sea. In a moment she righted
and shot ahead. and. turning, presented
her port side 10 the enemy. Instant ex
animation Of the armor on her othel
side showed that the two hanks of SPRING
werc uniniured. and that not an ali