The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1895-10-10

1t was this spot (the English chan
nell, right in the teeth of the British
naval power, that the Wasp chose for
her cruising ground. Hitler and thith-
er she sailed through the narrow seas,
capturing and destroying the mer-
chantmen, and by the ~seamanship of
her crew and the skill and vigilance
of her commander, escaping the pur-
suit of the frigate and ship-of-thc-line.
Before she had been long on the
ground, n June morning, while in
chase of a couple of merchant ships,
she spied a s~loop-of-war, the British
brig Reindeer of 1,S20 men. The Rein
deer was a weaker ship that the Wasp,
her guns were lighter and her men
fewer; but her commander, Capt. Man
ners, was one of the most gallant men
in the British navy, and he promptly
took up the gage of battle which the
Wasp threw down.
The day was calm and nearly still;
only a light wind stirred across the
sea. At 1 o'clock the Wasp's drum
beat to quarters, and the sailors and
marines gathered at their appointed
posts. The drum of the Reindeer re-
Sponded to the challenge; and, with
her sails reduced to fighting trim, her
guns run out, and every man ready,
she came down on the Yankee ship.
On her f%orecaStle she had rugged a
light carronade, and, coming up from
behind, she five times discharged this
point blank into the American slOOp.
Then, in the light air, the latter luffed
around, firing her guns as they bore,
and the two ships engaged yardarm to
yardarm. The guns leaped and thun-
dered as the grimy gunners hurled
them out to fire, working like demons.
For a few minutes the cannonade on
both sides was tremendous, and the
men in the tops could hardly see the
decks for the wreck of flying splinters.
Then the vessels ground together, and
through the open ports the rival gun
ners hewed, hacked and thrust at one
another, while the black smoke curled
up between the hulls, The English
| were suffering terribly; Capt. Manners
himself was wounded, and, realizing
that he was doomed to defeat unless
by some desperate effort he could
avert it, he gave the signal to board.
At the call the boarders gathered
around, many of them naked to the
waist, and black with powder, holding
cutlas and pistol in their hands. But
the Americans were ready. Their ma
rines were drawn up on deck, the pike
men stood behind the ~bulwarks, and
the officers watched, cool and alert,
for every movement of their foe.
Then the British sea-dogs tumbled
aboard, only to perish by shot or steel
The cOmbatantS slaShed and stabbed
with savage fury, and the assailants
were driven back. Manners sprang tC
their head to lead them again himself
when a ball fired by one of the sailors
In the American tops crushed through
his skull and he fell, sword in hand
with his face to the foe, dying as hon
orable a death as ever a brave MAI
died in fighting against odds for thu
flag of his country. AS he fell thu
American officer passed the word t.
board. With wild cheers the fightin.
sailOr-men sprang forward, sweepin:
the wreck of the British force befor,
them, and in Il minute the Reindee
was in their possession. All of he
officers and nearly two-thirds of TIL
crew were killed or wounded. Tween
ty-siX of the Americans had been kill
ed or wounded.-''Tbe Cruise of tn
Wasp" by Theodore Roosevelt, il
August st. Nicholas.