The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-04-17

Sd, two days after the arrival of the
--adcap with the first t:dings of the APP
proacIllhg invasion, Il message from oal',
dy Hook announced that the Vanguard
OF the alien fleet had been slghtea ~
patrol boat so miles at sea. lt mao
been impossible TO determine the, eAact
strength or numbers of the mVaulHg
fleet but enough had been ascertaiueu
to verify in every detail the report gwen
out on the afternoon of the list. 1haI
a powerful fleet of the strongest Dattie
ships OF. Europe would within twenty
four hours, unless stopped 10y the guns
at Sandy Hook. be throwing thelf sheils
into the heart of the metropolis, became
ut once a fact instead of a supposition.
That the defcnses ut the nook WouH
prove Inadequate was almost certainty
in the minds of the thousands VINO
thronged about the bulletin boards on
the receipt of the news that the enemy
were indeed n our very doors. That the
torpedOes that had hurricdIy been placed
! beyond the narroWs might prove an
obstacle to the progress of the fleet
threw little encouragement on the stu
alton. Nine out of every 10 persons in
the city believed i'm their hearts that be-
ing of the following day. the proudest
city on the western continent would he
in ruins or a suppliant at the feet Of the
foreign admirals That the ships would
not begin their attack until the follow
ing morning was probable; their COM
manders would scarce venture too near
the land at nightfall. 1t was the NOR
row that the country dreaded for if the
fleet succeeded in passing the batteries
at Sandy Hook New York would lie at
the mercy of the invaders.
On board the foreign fleet there was
a feeling of confidence on that warm
autumn evening That there would be
a battle in the morning was expected,
for the gums behind the distant SAID
entertainments would speak with voice
that would be heard around the world.
But what would little fighting amount
to in the face of the great victory that
was to follow? \ few sailors might be
killed. possibly a ship sunk in the me-
lee, but behind would press on the flags
Of two great powers of the old world
force invincible. impregnable
/ All that night throngs of sober-faced
men and women passed silently from
\ the city toward the scene of the inev-
Iitable conflict. and when morning dawned
the shores which thanked the expected
passage of the fleet were black with
spectators They might have been mis-
taken for SightSeers on Il holiday out
ing except for one thing: the profound
silence which held them all like a spell
as they turned their eyes toward the.
distant line. where sea met sky, and
STAINED their ears to catch the first
sound of the guns which would an
nDuncc that the batteries at Sandy Hook
had sighted the enemy.
Il came rolling back over the green
cad hills a deep-toned kGell to the
waiting thousands. Before it died away
there came another. more distant, more
mufted report. as thought IN answer to
the first, and then it was as though
some mighty volcano belched forth on
a sudden all the stored-Ilp fury Of ages
in one thunderous information that seemed
TO set the very ground beneath the feet
of the anxious watchers rocking to its
foundations. Few Of them had ever
heard such heavy cannonading and with
i.whte faces they Ioked at each other
Eas though 10 ask if some great catastro-
ephe had eugulfed one or the other Of
I the combatants at the very outset of the
struggle. But the deep-tOned reports
continued. with now and then a sharper
and more piercing sound, and presently
Il cloud of smoke could be seen, off to
the southwark, drifting up from the
spot where the two hemispheres were
battling for supremacy. And with
strained faces turned toward the sea
the silent assemblage stood and watched
the cloud grow darker and broader, and
Fprayed to the god of the conflict to grant
the victory to the men so nobly striving
for the nations honor from behind the
yellow sandhills whose crest they could
barely see.
There is no voice 50 eloquent rs that
Of war. and no murmur of impotence
came from the silent thousands as they