The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-03-23
SECTION OF CRAB A, SHOWING Nrpprss

CINE, u, teak lining 70 crab
This proceeding astonished the COM
mander and officers Of the Scarab9us
almost as much as the extraordinary at
tack which had been made upon their
ship. They had expected demand to
surrender and haul down their flag, but
the director-in-chief on board Repeller
No. was of the opinion that with her
propeller extracted it mattered little
what flag she flew. His work with the
Scarabeus was over; for II had been or
dered by the syndicate that its vessels
should not cucumber themselves with
prizes.
lowed by the powerful crab, which
apparently had no fear that its disabled
adversary might fire upon it, the Scara-
beus moved toward the harbor, and when
1t had come within quarter of mile Of
the foremost British vessel, Crab A cast
off and steamed back to Repeller No. 1.
The other English vessels soon came
up, and each lay to and sent a boat to
the Scarabeus. After half an hours
consultation, in which the amazement Of
those on board the damaged vessel was
communicated to the officers and crews
of her two consorts, it was determined
that the smaller of these should tow the
disabled ship into port, while the other
one, In company with man-of-war just
coming out Of the harbor, should make
attack upon Repeller No. /.
1t had been plainly proved that ordin-
airy shot and shell had no effect upon
this craft, but it had not been proved
that she could withstand the rams OF
powerful ironclads. If this vessel, that
apparently carried no guns, or at least,
had used none, could be crushed, cap
sized, sunk, or in any way put out of the
fight, it was probable that the dangerous
submerged nautical machine would not
care to remain in these waters. If it re-
manned it must be destroyed by torpe-
does.
Signals were exchanged between the
two English vessels, and in very short
time they were steaming toward the re-
peller. 1t was a dangerous thing for two
vessels of their size to come close enough
together for both to ram an enemy at the
same time; but it was determined to
take the risks and do this, if possible;
for the destruction Of the repeller was
obviously the first duty in hand.
AS the two men-of-war rapidly APP
preached Repeller No. 1, they kept up a
steady fire upon her, for If in this way
they could damage her, the easier would
be their task. With a firm reliance upon
the efficacy of the steel spring armor, the
director in-chief felt no fear of the
enemys shot and shell, but he was not at
all willing that his vessel should be
rammed, for the consequences would
probably be disastrous. Accordingly h.
did not wait for the approach of the two
vessels, but steering seward, he signaled
for the other crab.
When Crab B made its appearance,
putting its little black jets of smoke as
it answered the signals of the director-in-
chief, the commanders of the two Brit
ish vessels were surprised. They had
imagined that there was only one of
these strange and terrible enemies, and
had supposed that she would be afraid to
make her peculiar attack upon one OF
them, because while doing so she would
expose herself to the danger of being run
down by the other. But the presence OF
two of these almost submerged engines of
destruction entirely changed the situa-
ton.
But the commanders of the British
ships were brave men. They had started
to run down the strangely armored Amer
lean craft, and run her down they would,
if they could. They put on more steam
and went ahead at greater speed. In
such furious onslaught the crabs might
not dare to attack them.
But they did not understand the ma
ture nor the powers OF these enemies
In less than twenty minutes Crab A had
laid hold of one Of the men-ofwar, and
Crab B of the other. The rudders of
both were shattered and torn away; and
while the blades of one propeller were
crushed to pieces, the other, with nearly
half its shaft, was drawn out and dropped
into the ocean. Helplessly the two men
of-war rose and fell upon the waves.
In ODeuleDCe 10 OTueIS lIoiu VIC io
peller, each crab took hold of one OF the
disabled vessels and towed it near the
mouth of the harbor, where it was left
The city was now in state of feverish
excitement, which was intensified by the
fact that majority of the people did not
understand what had happened, while
those to whom this had been made plain
could not comprehend why such thing
should have been allowed to happen.
Three of her majesty's ships of war,
equipped and ready for action, had sailed
out of the harbor, and an apparently in
significant enemy, without firing a gun,
had put them into such condition that
they were utterly unfit for service and
must be towed into a dry dock. How
could the government, the municipality,
, the army, or the navy, explain this?
The anxiety, the excitement, the ner'
| vous desire to know what had happened,
and what might be expected next, spread
that evening to every part of the Domin'
ion reached by telegraph.
no Be Continued