Semi-weekly independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1895-1897, 1896-04-11

| by Il Welsh I'll bDlt 1T a. III.
You must drink good deal OF ale
with your Welsh rabbits. lieutenant"
| ventured. mildly.
I'm total abstainer. sir he re-
piled. quietly. And never did | have
more cause To be thankful for it than
on that day. | was in full possession
Of my mental faculties: otherwise l
would never have been able 10 have
| lived through those awful two hours.
And the crew. tool never saw Drawer
set of fellows in my life; not moist
| eye or trembling lip among them.
The enemy had two tirst-class bat
| tie ships and two Second-class. They
advanced in line parallel to ours. Adj
miral Wad Signaled Commodore Blower
To engage the two second-claSs ships on
| the left. TO Wind TO take the right. leav-
ing us the flag ship in the center. This
vessel | saw through my glasses was
Il little larger but of almost the same
construction as the Swallow. There
was Il great cylindrical balloon of steel.
fully 500 feet in length. with the car
swung beneath it: an armored turret
! fore and aft. protecting her guns: at
her stern Il great propeller fan and TWO
| huge rudderS for steering. | saw her
crew running to and fro getting in
readiness for the conflict; her com
mander with Il little knot of officers
about him standing forward. eagerly
scanning our fleet Higher and higher
and more rare and our breathing be-
coming more and more rapid. | looked
down 1T The sea- which was glimmcring
15.00o feet below us in the sunlight:
! turned my eyes N the great cylinder
overhead: shot holes in two of its air
tight compartmentS-an what Il fall,
BUt there, were other things To think of.
Admiral. gaSped. If we 80 much
higher we shall die for want of air
Mr.. SwaSh.' replied the grand old
salt duty before breath always
member that. sir. I'm afraid the ship
will not carry much higher Well get
over them. don't YOU think, Captain
HowitzcrT
.IIowitzer gazed anxiously at the
enemy. who were now within fifteen
miles. and replied:
Close call. sir.
Then to The men:
stand ready to drop a ton of dyna-
mite on them if we go over Them
As he spoke there was puff on the
encmy'S flag ship. and solid shot came
singing half Il mile below us. Old Wad
laughed. ana ordered the bow gun To
return the fire when we were within
five miles. our shells passed over
them We had then reached rs high
IN altitude rs it was possible for the
ships to float. and then we reduced
speed. They approached 10 within two
miles and stopped and began to circle
about rs. evidently intending 10 sub
jet our balloons To Il cross fire. Higher
than we they could not go and the dis
coyery of this fact brought jeers and
/ cheers from our crew
For some fifteen minutes there was
terrible suspense. Each vessel circled
warily around its chosen opponent
banging away with its machine guns
in vain cndeavor To puncture the en-
emy'S balloon. But the distance WAS
too great and the movements of the
vessels TOO quick for any successful
/ gun work. Suddenly HowitZ," seized
my arm and pointed toward the Light
ming. Her crew had just thrown over
/ board her whole cabin. her two guns
/ AMI great quantity of dynamite
! bombs.
For moment we were speechless
with establishment. Were they going
+ To take TO flight: Admiral Wad seized
/ Il Iiag 10 signal Commander blower
/ but he just go rs far as dam when he
stopped. slowly the great vessel WAS
mounting in the air. 4 cry of diSmay
was heard from the hostile ship with
which She was engaged. In five min
uies She was 40o feet above them The
British crew madly threw overheard all
the weight they carried-guns. bombs
and everything but they were too late:
4 the Lightning was above them: then
Il black object shot down on them; n
deafening roar followed. with ii rush
of Hind that hurled the Swallow Il mile
out Of her course And when we looked
toward the Lightning she was alone
but slowly sinking toward the sea. for
the conclusion had torn off the end of
her balloon cylinder. We could see her
crew ut the rail cheering wildly.
ADMIRAL Wad ut one ordered that
we pursue the same tactics everything
| went by the board. guns, and all am
munitiOn but five bombs. We loOSened
some rivets in the floor and let the
cabin fall: then we. too. began To rise.
But the British admiral was not to be
outwitted for he had been busy ut cx-
actly the same work. and when we
found ourselves ] 900 feet higher he
lay Il mile away ut the same altitude.
Admiral Wad sworc. our gums
were gone and we could have lain
there for eternity and not harm each
other. unless we closed. For II long
time he paced the deck in silence. At
l. a