Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-03-20
The Great War Syndicate.
By FRANK E. STOCKTON.


 it's purposes, and accordingly the Talla- poosa was purchased from the govern tnent and work immediately begun upon her Her engines and hull were put into good condition. and outside of her was built another hull, composed of heavy steel armor plates and strongly hraced by great transverse beams run ming through the ship.
 Still outside of this was placed an in- proved system of spring armor. much stronger and moro effective than any which had yet been constructed. This, with the armor plate. added nearly fif- teen feet to the width of the vessel above wcter. All her sliperstructurCs were re- moved from her deck, which was cov- cred by q curved steel roof, and under q bomb proof canopy at the bow were placed two guns capable of carrying the largest sized motor bombs. The Talla- poosa, thus transformed. was called Re- peller No. II.
 The immense addition to her weight would of course interfere very much with the speed of the new rcpeller, but this was considered of little importance. as she would depend on her own engines only in time of action. She was now believed to possess more perfect defenses than any battle ship in the world.
 Early on q misty morning Rcpeller No. II, lowed by four of the swiftcst and most powerful crabs, and followed by two others, left a northern port of the United States, bound for the coast of Great Britain. Her course was a very northerly one, for the reason that the syndicate had planned work for her to do while on her way across the Atlantic.
 Tho syndicate had now determined, without unnecessarily losing an hour. to plainly demonstrate the power of the in- stantancous motor bomb. It had been intended to do this upc:l the Adamant, but as it had been found impossible to induce the captain of that vessel to evac- uate his ship, the syndicate had declined to exhibit the efficiency of their new agent of destruction upon a disabled craft crowded with human beings.
 This course had been highly preju- dicial to the claims of the syndicate, for as Repeller No. had made no use in the contest with the Adamant of the motor bombs with which she was said to be supplied, it was generally believed on both sides of the Atlantic that she car ried no such bombs, and the conviction that the destruction at the Canadian port had been effected by means of mines con- tinued as strong as it had ever been. To correct these false ideas was now the duty of Repcller No. II.
 For some time Great Britain had been steadily forwarding troops and muni- lions of war to Canada, without interrup- tion from her enemy. Only once had the syndicate's vessels appeared above the banks of Newfoundland. and as the number of these peculiar craft must nec- essarily be small, it was not supposed that their line of operations would be ex- tended very far north, and no danger from them was apprehended, provided the English vessels laid their courses well to the north.
 Shortly before the sailing of Repeller No. Il, the syndicate had received news that one of the largest transatlantic mail steamers, loaded with troops. and with heavy cannon for Canadian Notifications, and accompanied by tho Craglevin, one of the largest ironclads in the Royal navy, had started across the Atlantic The first business of the repeller and her attendant crabs concerned these two ves- sels.
 Owing to the power and speed of the crabs which lowed her. Repeller No. II made excellent time; and on the morn ing of the third day out the two British vessels were sighted. Somewhat alter ing their course, the syndicate's vessels were soon within q few miles of the enemy.
 The Craglevin was a magnificent war ship. She was not quite so large as the Adamant, and she was unprovided with a stern jacket or other defense of the kind. In sending her out the admiralty had designed her to defend the transport against the regular vessels of the United States navy; for although the nature of the contract with the syndicate was well understood in England, it was not SUD- posed that the American government would long consent to allow their war vessels to remain entirely idle.
 When the captain of the Craglevin perceived the approach of the repeller, he was much surprised, but he did not hesitate for q moment as to his course He signaled to the transport, then about a mile to the north, to keep on the way while he steered to meet the enemy. It had been decided in British naval circles that the proper thing to do in regard to a repeller was to ram her as quickly as possible. These vessels were necessarily slow and unwieldy, and if Q heavy iron clad could keep clear of crabs long enough to rush down upon one, there was every reason to believe that the "bau bouncer," as the repellers were called by British sailors, could be crushed in be- low the water line and sunk. So, full of courage and determination, the captain of the Craglevin bore down upon the re- peller.
 It is not necessary to enter into details of the ensuing action. Before the Crag- levin was within half mile of her ene- my she was seized by two crabs, all of which had cast loose from the repeller, and in less than twenty minutes both of her screws were extracted and her rud- der shattered. In the meantime two of the swiftest crabs had pursued the trans port; and coming up with her, one of them had fastened to her rudder, with