The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1898-10-13

POWDER
knocking ship abont'' as ever | was
shipmate with. commenced the game
| of battle. His skill in manpuvering
was quickly apparent.
AS soon as be had got his ship well
IN hand. he brought her up to the
wind On the port tack, and, prepared
at every point, fired his first gun at his
assaiiants.
The shot of the latter rained down
upon US with fearful rapidity and
| committed great havoc among our
crowded quarters. Four to one in
ships and guns, with twice that odds
in men, made it terrible uphill work
to escape.
1t, however, soon became evident
that our captain had no intention Of
seeking safety in flight, but proposed
to fight it out. This was an act ap
preaching almost to temerity, when it
IS considered that any moment shot
might have disabled our rigging, and
then, should they board. their nnmer
ical superiority would almost cartain-
ly have resulted in our destruction.
Just then round shot killed the
gunner's mate, and Nos. 3 and 5 of
my gun. scattering abo7t the splin-
ters, which wounded another man and
myself, though SO slightly that we
stuck to our quarters. 1t was admir-
able to see the coolness with which
Lieut.. Carruthers worked the ship,
and lodged the dhows every now and
then, bringing the Viper ahead or
close under the stern of one of our
four assailants, so that our fel llows
could give the enemy a raklng fire
that wrought great carnage IN their
their crowded decks,
Just then a musket ball wounded
the brave young officer severely in
the loins; but he, without word, or
even an exclamation of pain, merely
bound a handkerchief around his
waist and refused to leave the deck
though the wound must have Caused
him Intense pain
He continued giving his orders and
had the qualification OF seeing round
shot carrying away the mainmast of
one of the enemy's dhows. As he
limped forward to express his appro-
val to the captain of the gun that had
fired the lucky shot, another ball
struck him IN the forehead. and he
fell senseless on the deck.
He was Immediately carried below
and the command devolved on NJ.
Salter, the senior midshipman, a
young officer worthy of scceeding the
noble Carrnthers, who had trained
him as seaman and officer for such
an emergency. Boy as he WAS, the
ruidshipman carried on the action and
mannuvered the ship MS ably as his
predecessor, while the death of their
gallant chief fired every man to in
creased exertlon.
The end of it all was that the
dhows began to thin that they had
had enough of it, and taking their
crippled friend in tow made out to
sea.
1t was our turn now, AID we gave
chase, following them some distance,
though, truth to say, II was only to
impress them with the idea of our
, still being prepared to carry on the
action, which was not the case, for
we had been terribly mauled. We
soon returned to the anchorage, and
then counted up our casualties; two
of our six guns had been disabled, and
of our crew of sixty officers and
men, thirty-tvo had been killed and
wounded
Poor Lieut.. Carruthers, to whose
gallan'ry and GOODNESS all hands felt
they owed their safety, expired few
10 nutes after receiving his last wound
The captain, who came off as he
| could, proceeded to sea with the spe-
cial object of interring every seaman
| in the sailors boundless burying-
| ground-the mighty ocean; there the
| body of the gallant Carruthers and of
the men who had SO we'll seconded
mis- efforts, were laid in their ever
lasting rest. In justice to the cap
! captain / must say that he bitterly
regretted that his absence precluded
his sharing in the dangers and glories
of that eventful day. and that he shed
tears over the scene that met his eyes
es he picked his way over the bodies
| of the dead and dying, interspersed
| with the debris and wreck of shatter
ed gun-carriages, oars, decks and
bulwarks, ripped up with the enemy's
shot. And now,
THE mariner whose eye is bright
Whose beard Is age with hoHr,
Is gone"
And l, TOO, must take leave of my
friend and reader, who, hope, has
listened like 'three year child" to
the narrative of the ancient mariner.