St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-11-01
ST. PAUL WAS IN IT.
An Unwritten Chapter Of His
tory Of the War Of the
Rebellion.
How Three st. Paul Boys
Caused the Kearsarge to
Sink the Alabama.
A Chase After a French Girls
cite Leads to Important
Discoveries.
Changing the Globe Sights in
the Pivot Gun Of the Ala
bama.

In the interest of the truth of history,
and to see credit given where it is due,
l shall lift the curtain of modesty and
allow the full glare of celebrity to shine
upon the erstwhle humble names of
three st. Paulites, hoping a grateful
country will at once proceed TO ac-
knowledge and reward a service as
great as ii has been unrequited; or. if
said country sees fit to do neither, our
names may be handed down TO poster
ity through the deathless pages of the
GLOBE. Not to keep the reader in
suspense as to the nature Of our
great achievement, | will at once,
and boldly, make the state
ment that our exploit was the sink
ing of the Confederate cOrsair Alabama:
or, at least, the means of her being
forced to leave her haven of safety in
the French harbor OF Cherbourg, and
so meet her doom at the hands of the
gallant WinslOw; and the scientific
knowledge of one of our number. the
salvation OF the KearSarge in the ensuing
conflict. To make my story as brief as
possible, let me state that John Smith
Jr., William Jones and myself, all three
St. Paul boys, were midshipmen on the
KearSarge when she sailed on her cruise
to destroy the Alabama. | will pass
over the Oft-tol1 Incidents of the sea
voyage, and cOnfine myself strictly to
such happenings as are connected
with the destruction of the pirate. On
the 9TH of June. 1864, our ship then
lying in the Scheldt, Johnnie, Billie and
myself applied to the first luff," as the
executive officer of anofwar is al
ways styled, for
A Weeks Shore leave,
and received it, coupled with his bless
lug, in the shape of a fervent wish that
we would 90 to the devil while ashore.
and SO rid him of the task of keeping
us in order. Not diSheartened by the
FIRST luff'S" piouS wish, off we started
for Paris, determined to have q good
time, and, if it were possible. to astOnish
the natives SO thoroughly that they
would remember the name of st. Paul
for at least a month of Sundays.
We reached the gay capital,
of the splendors of which lack
of space fOrbidS me to attempt any
description; but will say that if there
IS any truth in the continental saying,
that good Americans 90 to Paris when
they die" it is my,Opinion that the o. AS
i'll question are we'll provided for. As
matter of course, we soon discovered
the famous American bar in the Boule-
ward deS ltaliens, and STOOD the bar
tender off" in such 4 genuine American
style that he declared we were boys
after his own heart. and that he would
make it pleasant for us while we re-
manned in the city. | am bound to say
he kept his word. for Johnnie, being
like all st. Paulites, susceptible to the
charms of beauty. was smitten
Inv 70 Of
full French girl, who passed
us on the boulevard; ana, cOnliding his
passion to OuI spiritual friend, that ac-
cOmmOdating gentleman volunteered to
obtain him an Introduction to his
charmer, Ia mode Franchise; that is TO
say, through her paternal ancestor,
whom he discovered to be a clerk, or
some such official, about the palace Of
his imperial majesty Napoleon III.
AS Johnnie spoke no French at all,
Billie knew but half a dozen words oil
that elegant language. and | perhaps
dozen, we decided that when Johnnie
called on the stern parent we would
go along to see fair play, and help
him out to the full extent of our some
what limited conversational powers.
Our friend the barkeeper, being init
mate with the seneSchalS, etc., of the pal
ace (WhO. to man, were on his slate),
engaged to obtain us the needful per-
mission to interview the aforesaid
parent, who, it see med. could only be
seen by obtaining a pass from some high
mucka-muck who had charge OF the
castle doors, and who, being deep in
our friends books. was anxious to hold
the same position in his good graces.
Now. as fate would have it, special
envoy from the English foreign Office
was expected to arrive that very day to
consult with Napoleon himself and con-
cert with that willy trickSter the best
method of securing, under the guise of
strict neutrality, the victory of the la
bama and the
Destruction Of the x earSarga;
all in hopes that the natural eXasper-
alton Of our government would lead to
some action Oh its part which would fur
nish the long-desired pretext for the in
PREVENTION of England and France on
behalf of the Confederacy. Now mark
upon what slender threads hang ever
lasting things
Note the truth, as we'll as poetry, in
that sublime passage of ''Holy Writ las
quoted by one of our own statesmen
God moves in mysterious way His
wonders to perform" The sentinel of
the approaches before mentioned, who
had been shaking dice all morning at
the American bar, gave us the pass of
the English envoy, naturally mistak-
ing the free and naughty bearing
of the untamed American for the nat
ural air of a royal duke, at least: and to
our Intense surprise, we were dshered.
not into the room of JOhnnie's pros-
pective father-in-law, but into the pri-
vate cabinet of Louis Napoleon himself.
By blessed chance, L.. \. could speak
English, and opened the business at
once. and gave US a chance to catch on
so to speak-befOre we gave ourselves
away. The Establishments credentials
had preceded him, and Louis held them
in his hand, as he spoke, briefly, and to
the point, as was his wont.
"Well, my lord-BilIy was nv lord,
''Shall we at once arrange the sinking
of the Yankee frigate?"
Your majesty" responded the quick
witted Billie, "by no means; the Ala
bama must take her own chance. All
we dale advise now, only advise, mark.
is that she be allowed to coal in
Cherbourg harbor, and then be obliged
to leave at once; the Yankee ship, of
course
mile tonerres," remarked Napole-
on, what means this, my lord aud
why this sudden change in the views of
your government 2"
"In the first place, your highness,"
replied my lord. at means a Russian
fleet in the Dardanelles and a Russian
army at Constantinople, which would
| please you but little, and us still less;
| and IN the second 1t means a declara-
1 ton OF war from the United States, and a