Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-04-25

pirates, and that their flag OF truce
should be fired upon. But the COM
mandant OF the fort paid no attention to
ouch counsels, and sent detachment
with white flag down to the beach to
meet the approaching boat and learn its
errand.
The men in the boat had nothing to do
but to deliver letter from the director
in-chief to the commandant IF the fort
and then row back again. No answer
was required.
When the commandant read the brief
note he made no remark. In fact, he
could think of no appropriate remark to
make. The missive simply informed
him that at ten o'clock and eighteen
minutes a. ~, of that day, the first
boom from the marine forces of the SYM
dictate had been discharged into the
waters of the harbor. At, or about two
o'clock p. M, the second bomb would be
discharged at Fort Pitcher. That was all.
What this extraordinary message
meant could not be imagined by any
officer of the garrison. If the people on
board the ships were taking advantage
Of the earthquake, and supposed that
they could induce British soldiers to be-
lieve that it had been caused by one Of
their bombs, then were they idiots in
deed. They would fire their second shot
at Fort Pitcher! This was impossible,
for they had not yet fired their first shot.
These syndicate people were evidently
very tricky. and the defenders of the
port must therefore be very cautious.
Fort Pitcher was very large and I'M
finished fortifcation, on a bluff on the
opposite side of the harbor. Work had
been discontinued on it as soon as the
syndicate's vessels had appeared off the
port, for it was not desired to expose the
builders and workmen to a possible
commandment. The place was now,
therefore, almost deserted; but after the
receipt of the syndicates message, the
commandment feared that the enemy
might throw an ordinary shell into the
unfinished works, and he sent boat
across the bay to order away any work
men or others who might be lingering
about the place.
A little after o'clock p. m. an instan-
taneous motor bomb was discharged
from Repeller No. into Fort Pitcher.
1t was set to act five seconds after i'm
pact with the object aimed at. 1t struck
in central portion Of the unfinished
fort, and having described a high curve
in the air, descended not only with its
own motive power, but with the force of
gravitation, and penetrated deep into the
earth.
Five seconds later vast brown cloud
appeared on the Fort Pitcher promon-
tory. This cloud was nearly spherical
in form, with an apparent diameter of
about a thousand yards. At the same
instant a shock similar to that accom-
panying the first motor bomb was felt in
the city and surrounding country, but
this was not so severe as the other, for
the second bomb did not exert it's force
upon the underlying rocks of the region,
as the first one had done.
The great brown cloud quickly began
to lose its spherical form, part of it de-
scending heavily to the earth and part
floating away in vast dust clouds borne
inland by the breeze, settling downward
as they moved, and depositing on land,
water, ships, houses, domes and trees an
almost ilnpalpable powder.
When the cloud had cleared away
Co a. ,,N
on which they had stood had disappeared.
Part of this bluff had foated away on
the wind and part off lay piled in great
heaps of sand on the spot where its rocks
were to have upheld fort.
The effect of the motor bomb was fully
observed with glasses from the various
Notifications of the port and from many
points of the city and harbor; and those
familiar with the effects of explosives
were not long in making up their minds
what had happened. They felt sure that
a mine had been sprung beneath Fort
Pitcher, and they were now equally con-
tident that in the morning a torpedo of
novel and terrible power had been ex-
ploded in the harbor. They now disbe-
lieved in the earthquake and treated
with contempt the pretense that shots
had been fired from the syndicates YES
sci. This was merely a trick of the
enemy. 1t was not even likely that the
mine or the torpedo had been operated
from the ship. These were in all proba-
bility under the control of confederates
on shore, and had been exploded at
times agreed upon beforehand. All this
was perfectly plain to the military au-
thorities.
But the people of the city derived no
comfort from the announcement of these
conclusions. For all that anybody knew
the whole city might be undermined,
and at any moment might ascend in
cloud of minute particles. They felt that
they were in a region of hidden traitors
and bombs, and in consequence of this
belief thousands Of citizens left their
homes.
That afternoon a truce boat again
went out from Repeller No. ! and rowed
to the fort, where a letter to the COM
mandant was delivered. This, like the
other, demanded no answer, and the boat
returned. Later in the afternoon the
two repellers, accompanied by the crabs