Virginia gazette. [volume] (Williamsburg, Va.) 1893-192?, 1898-08-27

ter shsn Chinese can be taught to fire."
he added. thoughtfully- Give them
training. and officers whom they car
trust. and they II shoot all right"
As he spoke. a solid shot carne down
with a loud "sudge" into the water so
close 90 US that the torpedo-boat reelel
upon the wave II made.
That would have smaShedthe Sun
PAL like an egg" said WUng. coolly.
giving me curious glance from his
obiiGue brown eyes.
The next instant ragged fragment
Of shell cut through our deck plates
and stuck there; and a couple Of
shrapnel bullets came ping against
the little dome, within yard Of our
faces
Wung gave some orders 10 the en-
gileer below and g the Chinese steers
man aft Then be lighted a cigarette
and offered me another. He was per
fectly calm and knew the effect OF
calmness upon his subordiuates
Following the lead Of the cruiser
Chen-vuen. we steamed round the
south end Of the Isle Leu kung- tao.
Here. under cover of Fort koto. we
were largely sheltered from the heavy
guns OF be eastward forts: but now
we were even more exposed 20 the
ield-pieces and mortar batteries which
lined the western shore OF the BAY
The flagship and the protected cruis-
ers were not endangered by these
light projectiles. but 20 small craft the
location was still more perilous than
f the one We had left
We were not here long. however. Al
few minutes past nine. as I looked
down the ship-chaune. past the high.
rocky shore OF Leu-kung- / saw
f one of the enemy's large warships the
F Noshiuo. come into view past the
lower end Of the island. more than a
mile and half away. She was fol-
lowed ~ the Namwa. aal soon FIVE
large ships were m sight They were
closing in 60 engage us.
Look sharp for signals now" said
Wung. throwing away has cigarette
Watch the flagstaff on Fort Koto
That's where wen get our signals "
The flagstaff was Lalf hidden m
smoke AZ length the clouds drifted
away and there hung "a yellow pennant
over blue aud white. WunC glanced
40 the signal cOlor-sheet. which was
posted on the wal! OF the drum III
front 81 him.
Torpedo-bcats prepare"" De exc
claimed. by the face of Wung
That's for u.s.
'Hurrah for Ting" 7 cried excited
~. though I knew what II meant Tor
torpedo-boats e. attack 10y daylight.
Wung called the order down the
speaking-tube 60 the engineer. and
then looked through the slits az the
drum again
Can you see any thing az all2" he
asked. Blast the smoke, The
poles completely hidden. No. ther,
+ 1t comes again. A yellow, two red.
and blue taS. isn't it,"
That's right. I said
Wung looked again ~ tine door
sheet 'rorpedo-boats form IN tw,
lines. he read. AID putting his Tap.
TO the speaking tube he called.
" Lether 90. Lotze. quarter speed.
And then lac added in Chinese 70 Ill,
helmsman. "Hard-a-porr
All the small craft came abou
simultaneously For some minute.
the confusion was extreme. Boat
were backing steering, lining up
amid q chorus Of shrill whistles. &
length there was 4 semhiance OF order
and with seven boats IN front and si'
behind. we moved % quarter sTees
toward the boom. lei 10y the nava
tug. which went ahead 10 open q Join
an thus enable Us 20 pass out
There was a delay OF ten minutes
then we fled ont and lined up one,
more. 1 strained my eyes 10 catcl
the signal through the smoke whicl
often hid the flagstaff on the fort 4
l looked, 1t was shot clean away.
The color-staf Is down" 1 cried
Look 70 the flagship, then, sal
Was
WL'.e we were still waiting for fna
: orders, the Lu-kien. a boat IL OF
front line, was either struck by a shel
or else her boilers exploded With
J horrible roar she collapsed and, Wit
} all hands on board, she sank almos
instantly. Yet IN the terrible thun
, der Of the fight about US, We scarcel
gave q thought 70 the awful fatality
Look for four yellow flags. on
= above another, said Wing That
the new code signal for attack.
Just then string of colors wen
apeak on the flagship There II : 9