The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1897-07-31

| Angles, trusting 10 tuelT having DetH
long enough in the water to have be-
come slimy-in which case my boat,
under full Roadway, would bump up
against them and slip over into the pen
with the ram. This was my only chance
of success, and once over the obstruc-
ton, my boat would never get out
again; but l was there to accomplish an
important object, and to die, if needs
be, was but duty. AS | turned, the
whole back of my coat was torn out
by buckshot, and the sole of my shoe
was carried away. The fire was very
severe"
During a lull IN the firing, the rebel
! captains voice came over the water
from the iron-clad, asking the intruders
who they We're.
"All my men," continues Cushing's
account, gave some comical answers,
and mine was a dose of canister, which
l sent among them from the howitzer,
buzzing ard singing against the iron
ribs and into the mass of men standing
by the fire upon the shore. In another
instant we had struck the logs and were
over, with Roadway nearly gone, slowly
forging up under the enemy's quarter
port. Ten feet from us the muzzle of
rifle-gun looked into our faces, and
every word of command on board was
distinctly heard.
My clothing was perforated with
bullets as l stood in the bow, the heel
jigger in my right hand and the explod
ing line in the left. We were near
enough then, and l ordered the boom
lowered until the forward motion of the
launch carried the torpedo under the
rams overhang. A strong pull of the
detached line, a moments waiting TOR
the torpedo to rise under the hull, and
| hauled III the left hand, just cut by
bullet"
simultaneously with the explosion
there crushed into the midst of the men
on the launch hundred pounds of
grape, from less than dozen feet range.
AT the same instant, almost, a tremen-
dous volume of water which the torpedo
had propelled into the air, came down
with crushing weight.
"Save yourselves cried Gushing, as
he threw away sword, revolver and
shoes and plunged into the chilling
water of the river.
Surrender" came the summons
from the enemy. Surrender" came
in repetition, and q hail of bullets fell
on all sides of the gallant commander,
as he swan for the opposite shore.
Boats soon pulled in every direction,
picking up and making prisoners the
daring men who had blown a hole
through the bottom of the iron-clad.
Gushing knew that the fleet of the
Unionists was dozen miles away, but
he preferred death to surrender. I'm
needing the summons of his pursuers,
he swan in the darkness of the night
for place of shelter. At times it
seemed as if he must give up the strug-
gle and sink beneath the waters of the
Roanoke never to rise again.
" L directed my course towards the
" IL Slit VI tIlC IlNtIy say > Ills Hal
tive, mot making much Roadway, as my
strokes were now very feeble my clothes
being soaked and heavy, and little chop
seas splashing with a shocking persis-
tence into my mouth every time that
grasped for breath. Still there was a
determination not to sink, will not to
give up; and l kept up a sort of me-
chanical motion long after my bodily
force was in fact expended.
AT last, and not moment too soon,
| touched soft mud, and in the excite
ment of the first shock | half raised my
body and made one step forward; then
fell, and renamed half in the mud and
half in the water until daylight, unable
even to crawl on hands and knees,
nearly frozen, with brain in W hirl but
with one thing strong IN me-the fixed
determination to escape. The prospect
of drowning, starvation, death in the
swamps-all seemed lesser evils than
that of surrender"
Daylight showed Cushing his perilous
situation. Scarcely forty yards away
was one of the forts of Plymouth. Sol
diers and sailors filled the town, and
their movements betokened great ex-
element. The narrative of Cushing's
remarkable escape from his place of
peril is thrilling. Here it is in his own
words:
1t was source of satisfaction to me
to know that l had pulled the wire that
set all these figures moving Tin man
ner quite as interesting as the best of
theatricals), but as | had no desire of
being discovered by any of the rebs
who were so plentiful around me, l
did not long remain spectator. Ny
first object was to get into a dry fringe
of rushes that edged the swamp; but to
do this required me to pass over thirty
or forty feet of open ground, right I'M
der the eye of the sentinel who walked
the parapet.
Watching until he turned for a mo-
ment | made Il dash to cross the space,
was only half way when he turned and
forced me to drop down right between
two paths, and almost entirely I'M
shielded. Perhaps | was unobserved
because of the mud that covered me,
and made me blend in with the earth;
at all events the soldier continued his
tramp for some time, while |, flat on my
back, awaited another chance for action.
Soon party Of four men came down
the path at nv right two of them being
officers, and passed so close to me as al
! most to tread upon my arm. They were
Ii non be aNnnts If no 70