Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1898-07-01
WITH SAM PSI N IS EN-

LII DAlllIsDSlIS q NJ Elm
THE DARsf.s FEAT OF a " DUNG Ex-
g. uTIvE# OFFICER.
How Gillis Of the Porter Saved His Yes.
eel From Spanish Torpedo hat the
War Has TauEht-A Lesson About Coal
inE stations and Coal Vessels.
The New York Post 8 correspondent.
with Admiral Sampson s feet off Santi-.
ago, writing under the date Of June
II, says: n. !. 81 ". ss. 4 f.s.s .s.2.
Among the uncelebrated acts of cour-
age in the naval campaign, one perform
ed by the young executive officer Of the
torpedo boat Porter, who is the son Of
Admiral ellis, takes my fancy. One
dark night as you have heard, Admiral
Cervera sent a destroyer out from the
harbor> Of Santiago to torpedo two or
three Of our ships Of war. Whether the
destroyer ever got back to Cervera is
not certainly known, but next morning
some Of the German torpedoes were still
floating around aimlessly among the
American feet. H. .*"# -. -.
Nosing along under steam for three
knots, rolling in the sea like a cork
cigar, the Porter sighted one of these
much feared engines, and cit was COM
ing straight for my little BRUTE, says
Captain Fremont in telling the story.
1--WE must capture that, said I to
Gillis, pressing the indicator for more
steam. =. t.
Yes, sir, he answered. 'I'll get it
for you.
'''Do you know ellis? Hasn't any
head at all-nothing in his composition
but plain nerve. have to watch him
all the time or I'd lose him and the
Porter and myself, too, and I dom t
want to do that, because I like him, and
I'm responsible for the preservation Of
the Porter, and, furthermore, I have
happy home. But this time he was too
quick for me- The torpedo was coming
slowly. IF it touched our side, there
would be nothing more for any of US
except bed under water.
'tHe had mis- shoes off before knew
it, and his coat, and I said: Don't do
it, ellis. She's got her war nose on
"'I'll unscrew it, sir, said the boy,
and over the side he went, threw his
arms around the torpedo, headed it
away from us, and then began feeling
for it's business end.''
1t happened that this torpedo had no
"business end,'' no tip Containing the
Illuminating charge "a fact which shows
how careless Spaniards are and why
they are Ineffective in wary, and the
aircock opening just then the torpedo
dived from Gillis' arms to the bottom.
Not many minutes afterward the look
out reported another torpedo, and this
one, alive, war nose and all, was ''pow-
er buclled,'' or skidded, aboard, under
the captains directions, and it now lies
by the port rail of the torpedo boat Por-
ter, most interesting prize, and worth
to officers and crew just Sc, 900 of the
governments money. . g-:::s' 49,
This war has been Disappointing thus
far to those curious patriots who de-
manded it for the sake of what it would
teach about modern armor plates, pro-
jectiles, the respective values of heavy
and light armament, about sand and
concrete compared with masonry, and
dynamite cruisers and war balloons
and box kites. Yesterday the Vesuvius
succeeded in throwing dynamite into
Santiago harbor' from those fixed guns
of hers that are aimed by the ships
helm, and aside from the interest this
feat no doubt excited Sin the states"
she surprised herself by making the dy-
Mantle explode. She is likely now to
take up the plan of mapping the chan
mel and whenever a submarine mine is
anchored drop dynamite shell there to
destroy it. Except one other successful
experiment made in actual service this
has been the novelty Of the campaign.
The other successful experiment is the
practicability of coaling warships at
sea. AS write, a collier has arrived
from Pensacola, and in a swelling sea
that tips dishes from our table, she has
steamed alongside the Iowa, put enor-
nous tenders between, tied up and is
now transferring coal to the battleship's
bunkers with as much facility as if she
were coal wharf. Three days ago the
flagship New Work, in heavy weather,
coaled from vessel alongside at the
rate of 285 tons day, managing it
without the slightest mishap by easing
off the bowlines and keeping both ships
moving ahead. At Guantanamo bay we
have seen it demonstrated that the pos
session Of islands for coaling stations is
not everywhere imperative. Of what
use was Key West, 700 miles away,
when all iwarships were needed all the
time on their stations? The thing to do
was to seize from the enemy a naval
base naaqsr to hand, one already sup
piled with coal, if possible, but if not,
a harbor or small bay where our own
Golfers could deliver their cargoes to
the operating fleet So we took Guanta-
namo bay, short 40 miles distant, and
the coaling station problem took on
great simplicity. s= .5@... @..5:. /.
What do yon think of thisP'' one Of
the most INTELLIGENT and hest known