The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-15
Commodore Stewards Dagger.

one sgnshiny afternoon ia spring, says a
writer in Blue and Gray. while talking with
stewart. picked up from his table a peculiar
knife The handle Was ivory, yellow with
age. The blade was perhaps eight or ten
Inches long, curved Ike scimltar II was,
in fact a dagger. there being no edge on 70,
but the point was OF needle-like sharpness.
He noticed my curiosity, and said:
That knife was a present from Decatur,
and It has an interesting history Our war
with Tripoli broke out In 1901. Those tTeach-
erous dogs had a way OF surrendering. and
then when boat was sent 10 take possession,
they would open on 10. Lieutenant James
Decatur, brother OF Stephen was shot
dead by the captain Of a vessel that had run
up the white flag and. waiting until young
Decatur stepped upon his deck killed him.
stephen Decatur learned OF this crime,
and made his way to the boat on which his
brother had been killed. He Led his men over
the rail and attacked the crew with desperate
valOr he had learned that 1t was the cap
tain who had fired the fatal shot, and singing
him out, Decatur went at him like q tiger
such fight could only end with the death Of
one OF the com hatants.
There was no mistake about the identity
OF the captain. He was fully six and half
feet tall, and wore a gorgeous uniform. See
ing the American making for him. the mis-
creant eagerly rushed forward, for he must
have been confident Of crushing the audacious
ohcer, who was not a large man by any
means
The moor lunged n Decatur with pike,
but ii was parted with so much violence that
the dSsallant was partly turned round on his
feet. He instantly whirled back like a cat
Just as Decatur struck with his sword. The
blow was caught on the TripOlitan's pike and
the sword broke in two; but with the stump,
Decatur checked second blow, though the
point passed through his coat and pierced his
breast. GraSping the pike with both hands,
Decatur wrenched 1t from the other, flung it
aside and leaped at him, just as 1 had seen
him do scores of times in Philadelphia when
lighting with a boy larger than himself
81 a "a OF
catur but to his astOnishment he found the
Moor was his superior. When they went
down on the deck Decatur was fiat on
his back, with the Moor on top. That dagger
which you now have in your hand was in the
sash around the fellows waist. He reached
down to draw it, so as to stab Decatur, but
the latter flung his legs over the MoOrs back
and, with the help of his arms, held him so
tightly against his breast that the Moor could
not shove his hand between their bodies to
draw the weapon. One of Decatur's pistols
was near his side, so that while he held his
enemy rigid with his left arm he slipped his
right down and drew the weapon. He cooked
it by using the body Of the Moor to help him,
pointing the pistol downward, pulled the trig-
ger.
1t was just like Decatur, for more reck-
less thing cannot be imagined He might
have fired sideways into his enemy sbody, but
discharged the bullet directly towards his
own breast. The chances were that 1t would
pass through both but, luckily, it struck a
bone, and, with gasp and grOan, the Tripod
ltan rolled of the body on the deck and died
without another struggle. Decatur took the
knife from his sash and presented it to me"