Santa Fe daily New Mexican., 1897-11-02
AN EMPEROR'S JOKE.

mustn't give actual names, for obvious
reasons was the guest of my cousin,
who had brnyed the slow promotion of the
navy, and, as a result, now controlled the
destinies Of the first class cruiser aforesaid
had drifted into journalism, and my
slight knowledge Of things nautical had
secured me the somewhat coveted post of
special correspondent to a London daily
during the naval maneuvers. Luckily
was able to "stow my hammock" (" so to
speak, in my Cousins ship, and now we
lay, after the completion Of the programme,
In Southampton water, the temporarily
estranged fleets joined once more in friend
ly unity. In two long lines at regulation
distance the pick Of Britain's first defense
lay at their anchors. The situation, COM
bined with my remark on the sailors i'm
mersion, had evidently recalled certain
memories to the mind of Cousin Clynche,
as we always called him. l made haste to
benefit thereby and under a solemn prom
ise of secrecy listened to the following
yarn:
II must leave you to guess the year. It
Is not SO very long ago. was second on
the Blaster at the time, the flagship, with
old Ben nbrace in command. She was in tht
reserve squadron, under Admiral Culmore,
and headed the A division of nine ships
told off to keep the B division, under old
Halfagale, from devastating the shores
of Great Britain. We each had our share
OF torpedo boats and destroyers, and for
fortnight in July had maneuyered and out
maneuvered each other to the solemn sat
isfaction of the lords and the unspeakable
disgust of Jack.
"We had had midnight alarms (utterly
foolish to the minds of the tween deoks),
the usual number Of breakdowns and lame
ducks, mingled with occasional narrow
shaves from collision, which last were
hugely appreciated by the men as savoring
of real danger. However, all that was
over. The combined squadrons were an
chored, very much as we are now, in
we'll known bay on the south coast, prior
to taking up their stations for the year.
We had added three or four line of battle
ships that year, and very imposing show
they made as they flanked the feet of 20
Of the finest ironclads in the world. These
additions to our defense had been the cause
Of much heartburning to our continental
neighbors. They disliked intensely to see
the mistress Of the seas lengthening her
already all powerful arm, and the press of
their respective countries had some bitter
remarks to make on the arrogant display
of armed force, as they chose to term 1t
There is no doubt that such comments
only reflected the views of the heads of
such countries, and Germany was special
ly venomous on the subject The young
gentleman who at that time controlled the
destinies of the fatherland and whose de-
sire to tread in the footsteps of the i'm
mortal Alexander had drawn down upon
him more than one severe snub from
Whitehall, was especially savage. To think
that he, the all accomplished ruler OF a
country twice the size Of England, could
not show half the number of ships was
humiliating, and If only by some magic
stroke he could consign Britain's reserve
squadron to the bottom of the sea what a
happy monarch he would be-! All this,
you say, has nothing to do with our naval
tactics and my sensational experience.
have my own opinion on that point.
"Well, there we were after all the strain
and worry Of mimic battle lying snugly in
- bay. From the papers which we
welcomed (mails are pleasing uncer-
tainty at maneuvers), we saw that Will
liam was making an inspection of his
North sea ports in one Of his fastest turret
ships, accompanied by whole fleet of tor
pedo boats Why he should tack on SO
many small fry to his train was a mys-
terry, but, then, he had his peculiar ways.
No doubt in his absence from his beloved
guards he solaced himself by drilling these
rakish little craft He had also notified
the French government that he would pay
friendly visit to Calais and do himself
the honor Of inspecting the new dock al
most completed there. England, however,
did not seem to be included in the pro-
gramme. The sight of our floating arma-
ment might have proved too much for his
feelings.
His arrival at Calais had just been
noted the day before we came to anchor
The evening was fine, but extremely dark.
No shore leave had been granted, but
there was feeling of relaxation through
out the feet, and the hands had indulged
in an extra hour of skylarking. (Jack will
have his daily skylark.) After mess some
of us had settled ourselves on deck, and.
by and by, as the noises ceased and the
lights went out one might from the feel
ing Of solitude have imagined oneself iE
the middle of the Indian ocean. The
pitcby darkness added to the effect. We
had no shore lights to brighten up the
coast, some five miles of. could hear
midnight fairly striking from some vii
lage clock. The watch was being changed,
and was thinking Of turning in when
one Of the newly installed A. Bs., unused
to the darkness, managed to lose his foot
ing on the fo'o's'le head and tumble
overheard. Murphy Che hailed from Cork
yelled like blazes as soon as he got his
mouth free Of the sea, as II at least doz-
en- sharks were after him. The cry, Man
overboardl' was promptly responded to. A
lifebuoy was thrown and the GUTTER afloat
inside Of two minutes.
"To aid In the ecovery--though Muir
ply g howls sufficiently betrayed his where.
abouts- the searchlight was turned on
The Irishman was soon picked up, and ne
oeived a volley Of ohaff from his lnessmates
when 1t was seen he had come to no harm.
AS the searchlight swept round seaward
before closing down my eyes involuntarily
followed Its beams. Suddenly its light
fell on shadowy hull, then another, and
yet q third, lying, as nearly as could
Judge, about half mile from our ship.
was first amazed, then startled. What
craft could these be in such close proximity
to our fleet and without lights Of any
kindp As I rose to report their presence
distinctly heard q metallic clang borne
across the still water from the direction Of
the shadows The fall Of breech block,
and heavy one, too, or I'm Dutohman,'
l muttered as made for the officer Of the
watch. What devilment Is this, ! won
defs' Young Purchase promptly ordered
the searchlight to bear on the distant oh.
jeots, quite invisible without Its aid. Az
the light slowly revolved we counted II
craft to seaward, all lying In darkness,
but another surprise Was In store for us