The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-02-24

all for nothing There is no war II you
set IRE 20 this ship y0u'u suffer FOR g."
Get Into the boat. said the commander.
throwing torch into the rubbish on deck.
Tn Ten minutes the flames We're leap
Ing 10 the yards The skipper took a last
view OF his own CRATE. lie glanced AZ the
others and from eight OF them he saw
Jets OF flame leaping from the matches or
dancing above the bulWarks Nine Of the
fleet were ships OF FIRE.
The confederates had spared two. the
James Murray Of New Bedford aud ;ne
Nile Of New London. Into each Of these
more than one hundred and nifty men were
crowded. They We're the combined crews
Of the fleet
Take care Of yourselves" said one Of
the Sheuaud0an's officers DrusQucly. and
there. hardly a cable length away from the
burning fleet. the two craft lay at anchor
There was some quick work az the wind
lasses. ana in half an hour the two ships
made SAN ana, carried by a light breeze
hove 20 the southwark. The Shenandoah
dipped her coiors in derison and streamed
t0ward the Artic seas. She had finished
her last errand Of destruction.
Capt Ludlow was on board the James
Murray There were five or SIX captains
there and $50 men-enough TO navigate
and work any whaler. The course WAS
shaped for san Francisco. An day and
until the following morning the vessels
Many @ time in his old age did the old
whe - describe that scene. Great forks
OF fame blood red. tipped with pitchy
smoke. shot from holds filled with hum
dreds of barrels OF oil.
Explosion followed explosion. Around
the doomed craft the very sea burned.
Tons of blazing oil rested upon the un-
runied surface OF the water. From be-
tween starting planlSs issued jets Of farne
They grew into roaring pillars or FIRE
The tarred rigging became ropes Of fire.
Masts ana spars charred and shriveled.
Yards burned from the iron sviyeis and
clattercd upon the deck. Released by fire
from the stays, the masts reeled and
fell.
Lower descended the belts Of fire. and
at the dawn of the morning of June
% three blackened bulls. circled with
dying fires marked where once had
fioated ships which spurned the wave
and outstripped the wind. The others had
burned to the waters edge and sank.
Two crafts. laden like slave ships, went
to the south. on the third day a black
hulled. ugly craft bore down toward
them. crossed their track and hastened
on. 1t was the Shenandoah. She was on
her way to England then.
The two ships parted company. The
Nile went 20 Honolulu, the Murray 10
San Francisco. Capt. Ludlow returned
later he was at sea again ia command or
the coed ship Hihernia, one Of the largest
Of the New Bedford fleet.
Not long after the shenandoah steamed
into Liverpool and surrendered TO the
captain OF the British man-of-war Done
gal Her crew were turned over to the
American consul. After lying idle there
for years she was sold. in 1879, to The
Sultan Of Zanzibar. While on her way 70
Bombay for repairs she fOundered ia the
Indian ocean, near Socotora IslGnd. and
all on board We're lost except four sea
men.
Next to the Alabama the Shenandoah
was the most famous OF the southern
prlvatcers. She destroyed in all thirty
eight vessels. The cost of these formed
part of the Alabama claims, which were
subsequently paid. About $4,000 was
paid for the burning OF the Isaac How
land. The Shenandoah was the old Sea
King. purchased in England by the con-
federates.