The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-07-19
A TOUGH Time.
The Adventures Of a Prize
Grew in Making Port,

| Key West, Fla, July 1873. so D. H.
The schooner Three Bells and the sloop
Pilgrim, captured by the gunboat Dixie,
near Manzanjllo on July 6, arrived here
today under prize crews consisting of
Lieut. ). NJ. Blount and Gunner's Mate
j. K. Hatton with four marines each.
Inc prize crews, in bringing their spoils
| to port, encountered suicide and Spanish
| bullets and, buffetted about by hostile
winds, drifted helplessly about in strange
seas until well nigh hopeless of ever
reaching shore.
Both prizes were under the British flag
bound from Kingston, Jamaica. for Man
zanillo, with food supplies. On the
Three Bells was Captain e. j. Harding,
an Englishman, and crew of five, three
of whom were Jamaica negroes. The
Pilgrim carried Dutch captain and four
seamen of the same class. The captures
were effected without difficulty and
Blount and Hatton, neither of whom had
ever been at Key West, began their jour-
ney there. Captain Harding was much
depressed over the capture and drank
heavily until Lieut.. Blount stopped his
liquor. On the evening of July.9, when
about six miles south of Key Romano,
Captain Harding suddenly leaped over
board astern. The Pilgrim put out q
small boat and caught him, but he
struggled desperately tand capsized the
boat. One of the marines held him upon
the overturned boat and he was taken on
board the Pilgrim. But he was dead
when they reached the deck. 1t is thought
jumping into the sea. There happened to
be a Church of England prayer book on
board and the next morning, Sunday.
Lieut. Bloun5 read the services and the
dead captain was buried at sea.
This dismal duty was hardly completed
when they sighted two small schooners
near Key Romano. They proved to be the
Conception and another schooner, the
latter making her escape The Con-
cepcion was captured and proved to be
well loaded with fish, wine and other
provisions, while scattered over her decks
| were bags of small coins aggregating
about $50, q large number of Mauser
| bullets and other cartridges, but only one
shot gun. They took her in tow and then
began another chapter of misfortunes.
| Violent tropical squalls burst upon
| them the same day and continued almost
incessantly lntil last night. They had
no charts aboard and only q map of the
| world torn from 25 cent guide nook to
help them as they tloundered about in the
seas-three little vessels, none bigger than
cat boat.
In the course of the day, the wind and
waves had played such havoc with the
| Conception that they decided to abandon
her, and;af transferring the money,
they set her adrift Gunner's Mate Hat
ton, who had gone aboard her, was the
last to leave and he was compelled to tie
rope around himself and jump over
board, the men on the Three Bells pull
| ing him over to her. The little boats
staggered along until Wednesday morn
ing, when a storm of unusual violence
fell ON them off Cape Antonio.
Unable to make any progress and ex-
peoting almost momentarily to founder,
they lay there all day. Late in the after
noon as they bumped helpless about the
sea, body. of Spanish rifiemen on shore
opened fire. The only arms on board
were the weapons of the marines, four
rifles and nine revolvers, SO no attempt
was made to return the fire. Just before
nightfall Is of the Spanish rifemen
pushed off in q small boat toward the
Three Bells and drew as close as 800 or
400 yards, pouring e vicious fire at the