The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-03-03

moment we feei q snocS. ana know snas
the inner barge hss been struck near the
water limo by . round shot
Good shotY' exclaimed, they've got
our exact range, boys"
Now we're In for It" said Ward
'The fun has begun" remarked tho
captain Of the tug
The ball has opened quosh Colburnt
and il had opened with a vengeance
Eyery battery soon blazes and thunderS-
We are still several miles, by the river,
from the town, which Is around the bend,
and which we must double before reaching
il. Then we shall * directly under tae
great guns. roaring at Us now like gigantic
and maddened lions, aud roaring every
second louder and louder.
We are. I feel, utterly poweriess. We
cannot fight bsck as in ordinary battle: We
must stand and take IL. This Is why mill
ts,ry men call it proof OF nerve The sstua-
ton Is certainly sensational. How can ~
be more sos But il Is not 50 exciting as
bad anticipated IL any crisis In oar lives
30 exei,ingg We are under such stern con-
troll, necessarily. that we seem TO ourselves
strangely, unnaturslly calm
Instead of every minute lengtheninS into
an age; instead Of wondering II we can
possibly last i've minutes under such Ore
of hell find myself talking quietly 20 nay
journalistic companions, and shey TO me.
admiring the grand spectacle, which as
suredly IL Is. and wstching the shells ex-
plode above our heads. Safety is ont OF
the question; the danger Is equal every
where, while hundred siege guns all
along shore are doing their utmost 20 blow
our tiny craft into the air.
The whole town seems like an ignited
powder magazine The din Is desfening.
The growi of round shot minslcs with tho
shrek of shell. The fall orbed moon turns
CHASTITY in the continuous cannon flashes.
The sulphurous smoke lies on the bosom
of the broad swirling river, and crswls on
ward by degrees, and Is finally swallowed
up in the sultry air. We can see, a. In a
lurid vision. the citizens IN the street snx-
iously looking for the humiliation ef the
handful Of their hated foes.
One of them told me afterward that
he had been familiar with many dire
full scenes of the war, but that he had
never seen anything SO horrible; thai his
blood ran cold; that he pitied Us from his
inmost heart. IL seemed, he said, so bit
terly cruel, so completely hopeless. so
shudderingly forlorn. | have no doubt
that our situation appeared from the shore
more pitiable, more desperate, than 1t APP
pesrred TO us We never, l presume, fully
realize what we take part in, and we who
shared in the expedition grew measurably
accustomed, in few minutes, TO our men
acing tragical environment
We have now passed the upper batter
les. We are fairly abreast of the town.
Our little tug. which had begun working
its engines a. soon ~ we were struck, II
putting Justify away; but the puffs are
audible only at odd moments, between tho
stunning noise of the artillery. Various
men are wounded by fragments OF dying
shell. We cannot hear their groans. though
incapable of rendering aid, but we can rec
that they are hurt.
We are all helpless in this storm Of iron,
in this rage of flame. We wonder A. tho
shot and shell roar, shrek, hiss around us
that we are not torn 10 atoms. Bat stan
the tug puifs On. We make littie head
way for the big. clumsy barges clog the
current. We must have been half an hour
under the batteries. They are still poaud
ing. pounding, pounding like mad We
are below the city. In a few minutes moro
we shall be out OF danger. What Is sstis
faction it will be to pass throdgh this hid-
eous ORDEAL We begin to felicstate our
selves that We shall
Bang. crash, shrioSi A ten-inch shell
- struck the tug. wrecklng IL, and, tx
ploding. has thrown the furnace fire oa
the barges The boilers barst The loose
nay kindies at once, and We ar. all absaze.
A number OF men are scalded and wound
by dashIng wood AMI iron. What a
lulatiou OF disaster Shot, shell, fire,
m Every avenue to death opened.
tugs burn like finder The batteries
,ader on rs before. though damage has
me it, worst; fate playei is lat baiefs,
card Our funeral pyre reddens the treIn
bling sky
They who survive and are unhurt take
to the water and try 10 escape. Vain
hope They ara captured 10y the enemy.
who come out in yawls and drag them ia
like huge Gsh. All killed wounded or
made prisoners Not one gets away -
tell the tale Thermopylss 4. thus sar-
passed. There were no dispatches from
hell before OF after breskfast. a Tribune
correspondent. twenty-eigbt years later.
repeats the story Instead, IN the clear ugat
OF the upper world.
JUsIUs HENRI BEoEsz