Omaha daily bee., 1895-11-10

and 1 went to him dressed just as l was,
in the clothes the Zouaves gave me.
He said to me, Mr.. Selfridge, Lieutenant
Worden was wounded and has had to be
relieved from the m of the Monitor
and you have been recommended to me to
take his place. You are a very young on
Ger, and | want to ask you whether you
think you are equal to it, Well, | have
made it a rule never to decline any duty,
and so l said to him, 4 will try to do my
best, sir, and he said very WE'LL and
presently handed me my orders, and l took
them and went on board the Monitor.
A NAVAL OFFICER IN ZOUAVE RIG.
when l got there l asked for Mr.. Greene,
the executive officer, and they told me that
he was down at dinner in the wardrOom
with the other officers, so | went right down.
| must have been a queer-looking figure, and
as | walked in one Of them said: who are
you?' and said, is Mr.. Greene here?' and
he said yes and | said, Well, | have been
appointed to command the Monitor, and here
are my ORDERS and then l went to the cap
tain's cabin. l was only in command of
the Monitor a very short time, though, for
letters, a much older officer, had been sent
for before Mr.. Fox sent for ne, and when
he arrived Mr.. Fox sent for me and ex-
planned the situation to me, and |, of course,
saw that it was all right and quietly ac-
copied my next orders as flag lieutenant
of the North Atlantic fleet"
Then the record went on to say that Lieu
tenant Selfridge was present at the recap
ture of Norfolk, and engaged in destroying
rebel defenses in the waters of Virginia until
June, 1862, when he was detached and volun-
teered for of the submarine torpedo
boat Alligator, destined for service against
the Merrimac No. g."
THE WONDERFUL "ALLIGATOR."
The admiral laughed when ! asked him
about the Alligator.
We'll" he said, the Alligator was a curl
Gus craft, designed by a Frenchman at Phila-
delphia and accepted by the government after
one trial on the Delaware under his direc-
ton. She was then brought around to Wash
ingtOn, but when the Frenchman heard that
she was going to be used to try to destroy
the Merrimac No. 2, which was then said to
be building at Richmond, but which never
came to anything, he disappeared, taking
with him the secret of how to keep the air
fresh in the boat when she was under water,
so that she was practically useless. Then,
too, she was so slow that nothing could be
) done with her. She was to be propelled with
paddles arranged like the leaves of a book
to be worked with machinery by fourteen
mon, but ii was impossible to make more
than two knots an hour with her at the best.
Il made one trip in her down the Potomac
with a crew of volunteers, and we almost
went to the bottom, because when the fresh
air was exhausted the men all made a rush
at once for the manhole to get air, and tipped
the boat up so that she almost sunk. / or
dered them sharply back to their places, tell
ing them that their lives depended upon their
obedience, and they were experienced and
disciplined men and did as | told them, and
so saved their lives and mine.
SIT ASTRIDE OF E TILL RESCUED.
Then, one by one, We all cautiously
crawled out through the manhole and sat
astride Of the Alligator, which was like a
long cigar, and foated until we were taken
off by a schooner and brought back to Wash
ington. Mr.. Fox had told ms that he wanted
me to blow up the Merrimac No. 2 with the
Alligator, but after that experience | went
and told him the story, and added that he
could never blow up anything with that boat.
Attempts were made to improve her, but
about thai time we heard that the Merrimac
No, 2 was not coming out, and so We abln-
doned the Alligator"
FOUGHT THE GUERRILLAS.
While in command Of the Conestoga he was
engaged I'm many skirmishes with g]uerrilas
and small batteries obstructing the navigation
Of the Mississippi river; was sunk March 8,
1868, IN the COnestoga by collision with the
ram General Price; was assigned TO the COM
mand Of the ironclad Usage in the Red river
expedition, and while bringing up the rear
on its return, in company with the gunboat
Lexington, and while aground, was attacked
cav airy near Pleasant Hill crossing, and de-
feated them, with the loss Of their general
Green, and 400 killed and wounded.
After the Red river expedition he was as
signed to the command Of the Vindicator and