Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1890-06-17
A NARROW ESCAPE.

In January, 1877, the United States
steamer Richmond, lying in the harbor
of Valparaiso, Chilli, received orders to
proceed to the United States We were
to touch at all points on the way and get
final orders at Hampton Roads. In ad-
dition to the Richmond the Omaha and
the storeship Onward were looking after
American interests in those waters The
harbor was crowded with ships the emorn-
ing of our departure, and with high
hopes we heard the order: All hands up
anchor. The capstan was soon manned,
and TO the stirring music of fiddle and fife
the anchor was soon hanging at the cat
head and our fine old ship steamed slowly
through the long lines of shipping. The
Omaha manned the rigging and sent us
ON our way with three hearty cheers;
the Chilian flagship Valparaiso, an inn
mence ironclad, dipped her flag and sa-
luted us with 13 guns. She carried 9
35-ton guns, and their sharp deafening
report almost lifted us off our feet, while
from the band of the English flagship
came the sweet strains of Home, Sweet
Home. We We're soon clear of the har-
Dor, bells sounded full speed ahead,
and we started on our long voyage to
the land of the free. We touched at
Conception Bay and Valdivia, and soon
after entered Smiths Straits. This is a
passage often taken by steamers bound
through Magellan's Straits. as it is shorter
than the outside passage and smooth
water all the way. 1t extends from the
Gulf of Penas to Magellan Straits, and is
formed by islands so close together that
the channel is more like river than any
thing else. IL contains some of the
grandest scenery in the world. Noun
tains, valleys, volcanoes, and glaciers,
deep canyons and beautiful lakes meet
the eye as the vessel plows through the
water. In places the channel widens
out and is almost lost between hundreds
of small islands; at others it flows through
narrow passages between mountains
whose Sides straight as the walls of
house, tower from 500 to 900 feet above
the water Such place is the English
Narrows, half a mile long, in no place
more than 800 feet wide and in some
places not more than 100 Every sound
1lduC ID C1dlOGO AIOAkA StOC w CANC dDN1ASS
of times, and the report of musket puts
a war veteran in mind of Gettysburg.
Some of the officers induced the captain
to fire one of the heavy guns in the mar
rows, something no ship had ever done
before, and doubt if any officer present
when that shotwas fired will wish to try
it again. BY the advice of the navigator
the gun was not fired until just as the
ship passed out into the open water clear
of the canyon. The order to fire was
given just as the ships bow swung into
clear water. Twas standing on the poop
deck looking back as the gun was fired,
and / shall never forget what followed;
roar after roar, crash after crash as if
the very mountains were being torn from
their eternal resting places. Ten sec
onds after that gun was fired every gun
in the ship could have been fired at once
and man with his eyes shut would not
know il. But it was not the laundering
echoes that transfixed every man on deck.
BIanched faces and eyes filed with hor-
ror were fixed ON mass of rock twice
the size Of the ship on the edge of the cliff.
1t slowely toppled over, and then, with
the speed of lightning seemed to fall
straight down on us. / shook in every
limb, unable to move, and the next mo-
ment the ship trembled as if struck by
cyclone. Tons of water rushed over the
upper part of the ship, everyone aft was
thrown off his feet, and the waterpOured
down the open hatchway into the ward
room and after cabins. The immense
mass of rock struck the water and disap-
peared not 80 feet from the ships stern.
An around us the water seemed to boil,
and the swellwas as heavy as on the ocean
after a storm. At this time the awful
roar of those unseen guns seemed to ill
every valley and ravine for 10 miles
around, getting fainter and then break
ing forth with increased force, to finally
die away far off in the mountains, in a
succession of sharp unearthly cracks.
Some of the men rushed for the boats
and life RATS Engineers and firemen
ran up from below, thinking the ship had
struck, and one poor fellow was carried
against gun By the wafer and had his
leg broken.