Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1898-06-02

GS66SN w ASt ~ usS nOuAboi ~ "a
change for Der forty-six harmless
shells. every one Of them bent her
plates and bulged their wooden back.
ing, but as she was never struck
twice in the same place she was not
penetrated, though exposed to such
pounding as no other ship ever receiv.
Cd. Below the water line, however,
she was undefended. A shot into her
there would have probably been fatal.
She was not bouyant. and could not
have taken great amount OF water
with safety. The fact that the Moni.
tors guns could not be sufficiently de.
pressed TO strike her on that danger
line, It is PROBABLE, was all that saved
her.
1T was our intention TO board the
Monitor and make short work OF
overwhelming her crew by sheer
force OF numbers. Boarding, OF
course, means a melee, and such a.
mixing up as makes it very necessary
TO be able to distinguish friend from
foe But in this battle Doth side,
wore the blue. rhe Merrimac's crew
had not changed the clothing they
mad been wearing; in fact, they hat
not been able to find another color
that would stand salt water as the
blue would. Federal and Confederate
marines would have been so near alike
that they could not have been dis.
tingulshed in hand-to-hand encount.
err We marked ourselves with white
sashes and white cloths around our
ieft arms. But the boarding that we
looked for never came. The Merri.
mac made a kind OF hating rush at
the Monitor, intending to ram her,
out did no harm at all. We never
came to close enough quarters after.
ward for boarding. We allayed oul
impatience by watching the Monitori
guns and taking care that we were
not exposed at our own ports wher
one OF her cannon was about to be
nfed ar US. we became rairly expert
during those six hours Of guessing
when the enemy is going to deal ui
a blow, and where 1t was expected To
land.
Il DO not agree with the people who
hold that the defeat of the Merrima,
was the thing that saved Washington
and New York from bombardment BY
her guns. She was not the terror sht
has been painted. She was a float.
ing battery merely. She was Of toe
deep a draught to enter either the
Potomac near Washington or New
York harbor. She was so topheavy
that she was unseaworthy and would
never have dared to make an ocean
voyage. And, as the Monitors ham.
mering demonstrated, she couldn't
stand everything She never could
have lived past the guns of Fort Mon
roe. nor through rough gale and
sea. She couldn't even defend Rich.
mond, the Confederate capital. The
Monitor might have laid that city in
ruins had she but moved on it prompt
ly. The James river was open to hel
with her light d"aught, and there
was nothing in the way of defense
ordnance there that could stop her
She did not move in that direction
however, until the Confederates, fear,
full Of such an attempt, had time tc
fill the river with. torpedoes and sink
1t full OF distractions. Then 1t was
too late.
The Merrimac was an experiment
Ii the conditions under which she was
built to operate had not been altered
she would have been a success Sh,
was intended to proceed against
wooden ships, the only men-of-wal
the North then had. Wooden ship.
hsd no chance whatever, with her
except in running away. But the
conditions did not remain unchanged
They were altered by the appearance
of the Monitor, another experiment
1t was just enough better in It's adap
tation to the work it had to do thar
the Mc.rimac was, ana when her worl
there was done she was done. She
lived to rise and fall as no other shiE
of war of equal prominence and i'm
portance ever did, The first day she
swept everything in the form of ar
enemy to ruin. The second day sht
opposed her utmost to superior an
tagonisi, md the sun went down or
her failure and defeat. She really
had just two days Ct life-one when
her star was strong in the ascend
ant. the next when it set in DARK
eclipse. The Louisville Commercial
A New Lincoln Story.
There is a citizen of Cleveland WIN
can add a very pleasant story to th,
volume Of Linconana. He with hi
four brothers, all young men, was il
the Federal army during the war, ant
one Of the brothers, 10 years old
after particularly fierce campaign
found himself in a Washington mill
tary hospital.
His mother came from Cleveland I,
DO what she could to aid him. II,
passed the crisis Of his illness safely
and when he was well enough to b,
moved the mother went TO the Whit
House to ask his discharge from tn,
army. She had no letters Of introduc,
tion, but her simple story was enough
She saw the president, and in hi
kindly way he questioned her. Sh,
told the story Of her five soldier boys
and when she had finished, he stepped
to his desk and wrote an order for tn,