Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-04-26

=, VI eio 'o1 uoT, watching
smaller entrance to the port as well as
tne larger one, and thus maintaining ar
ehectlve blockade. This was not n diff.
cult duty, for since the news of the ok
traordinary performances of the crab,
mad been spread abroad, no merchan,
vessel, large or small, cared to approach
mat port; and strict orders had beer
issued by the British admiralty that nc
vessel OF the navy should, until furthe,
instructed, engage in combat with the
peculiar craft of the syndicate. Until =
plan OF action had been determined
upon 1t was very desirable that English
cruisers should not be exposed to useless
injury and danger.
Inns being the state Of affairs, mes.
sage was sent from the Office OF
the syndicate across tho border to
the Dominion government, which
stated that the seaport city which
had been attacked by the forces Of the
syndicate now lay under the guns of its
vessels, and in case of an overt act Of
war by Great Britain or Canada alone
such as the entrance of an armed force
from British territory into the United
States, or capture Of or attack upon an
American vessel, navel or commercial.
by British man-ofwar, or an attack
upon an American port by British YES
sells, the city would be bombarded and
destroyed.
This message, which was of course in
stantly transmitted to London, placed
the British government in the apparent
position of being held by the throat by
tho American War Syndicate. But il
the British government or the people of
England or Canada recognized this posi-
ton at all it was merely as temporary
condition. In short tins tho most
powerful men-ofwar Of the royal navy,
as we'll as u feet Of transports carving
troops, would reach the coasts of North
America, and then the condition of
affairs would rapidly be changed. 1t
was absurd to suppose that few me
dunn sized vessels, however heavily
armored, or few new tangled subma-
rine machines, however destructive they
might be, could withstand an armada of
the largest and finest armored vessels in
the world. y ship or two might be dis
abled, although this was unlikely, new
that the new method of attack was I'M
derstood; bat it would soon be the ports
of the United States, on both the Pacific
and Atlantic coasts, which would lilo
under the guns Of an enemy.
But it was not in the power of their
navy that the British government and
the people Of England and Canada placed
their greatest trust. but in the incapacitv
of their petty foe to support its ridicu-
lous assumptions. The claim that the
city lay under the guns Of the American
syndicate was considered ridiculous, for
few people believed that these vessels
had any guns. Certainly there had been no
evidence that any shots had been fired
from them. In the opinion of reasona-
BILE people the destruction of the forts
and the explosions in the harbor had
been caused by mines-mines of new
and terrifying power-which were the
work of traitors and confederates. The
destruction of the lighthouse had
strengthened this belief, for its fall
was similar to that which would have
been occasioncd by great explosion I'M
der its foundation.
But however terrifying and appalling
had been the results of the explosion Of
these mines. it was not thought probable
that there were any moro of them. The
explosions had taken place at exposed
points distant from the city, and the
most careful investigation failed to dis
cover any present signs of mining opera
tons.
This theory of mines worked by con-
federates was received throughout tie
civilized world, and was universally con-
demned. Even in the United States the
feeling was SO strong against this appar-
ent alliance between the syndicate and
British traitors that there was reason to
believe that a popular pressure would be
brought to bear upon the government
sufficient to force it to break its contract
with the syndicate and to carry on the
war with the national army and navy.
The crab was considered an admirable
addition to the strength of a navy, but a
mine under fort, laid and fired by per-
tidious confederatos, was considered lel-
worthy an enlightened people.
The members of the syndicate now
found themselves in an embarrassing
and dangerous positions; q position i'll
which they were placed by the universal
incredulity regarding the instantaneous
motor, and unless they could make the
world believe that they really used such
. motor bomb, the war could not be pro-
secuted on the plan projected.
1t was easy enough to convince the
enemy of toe terrible destruction the
syndicate was able to effect: but to make
that enemy and the world understand
that this was done by bombs, which
could be used in one place as well as an
other, was difficult indeed. They had
attempted to prove this by announcing
that at certain time bomb should be
projected into a certain fort. Precisely
at the specified time the fort had been
destroyed, but nobody believed that a
bomb had been fired.
Every opinion, official or popular, con-
corning what it had done and what
might be expected Of it, was promptly
Al l.