Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1900-09-29
MIMIC WARFARE WAGING.
u. 8. Warships Have Sham Fight
or NewpOrt.

the darkness a hostile squadron, made
| up of the battlcships kcarsarge and
! Indiana, and the gunboats Eagle and
| Scorpion. together with the fleet of six
| torpedo boats, attacked an opposing
| squadron, made up OF the Massachusetts,
the New York, the Vixen and the Ley
den, supported by the land batteries and
the defending squadron was triumphant,
| Captain Folger of the kcarsargc COM
manded the attacking craft, and Adj
| miral Farquhar directed the defenders.
The mancuvers last night. which COM
menced at 9:45, and lasted nearly three
| hours, was in reality night battle to
test the effectiveness of an attacking
squadron, aided by torpedo boats, against
a naval force. aided by shore batteries. in
which the searchlights for the time hn-
Ing were used in place of shells, a we'll
directed ray for n certain time putting
| the craft out of action. II Il torpedo
| boat could not mold within range of her
searchlght one of the hostile ships by
firing n red rocket, the craft on the de-
fensve was out of action, the fact that
the torpedo boat had the opportunity
to blow her up constituting victory If,
on the other hand, u battlcGhip got an
opposing craft within range of her light
and was able to keep that vessel under its
rays for the required time, the battle
ships victory was shown by blue rock
| ct.
The preparations for the mock sea
fight were carried out in detail to the
extreme, with as much attention almost
is If q real fight We're impending. Every
man was at his post, the guns ashore and
aloat We're manned and there was great
anxiety on the part of the defenders as
| the first faint trace of the foe was dis
| ccrnCd coming out of the darkness.
| 1t was 9:45 when the roar of an attack
| ing gun aw0ke the echoes which rolled
back from the jamestown shore. and in
| quick succ ,ssion came the heavy bark
| of large calibre gun, and then the
short metallic ring of light ordnance,
the flashes and thunder telling the hun
| dreds Of civilian spectators on shore
that the attack had begun and that the
| port defenders were ready to rcpcl the
enemy. The incoming squadron at
| tempted to pass Fort Adams and Fort
| Wetherell, which defended the east chan
mel, and Fort PrSble on the west. The
| torpedo boats Gwynne and Rodgers did
succeed in passing Fort Prcble in safety
under cover of darkness.
The Gwynne got her searchlight on the
| Massachusetts,, and had signalled that
| she was out of action. when the Vicks-
| burg in turn put out of action the smaller
| craft. Then the Rodgers figurativeiy
| blew the Vicks5urg out of the water.
Thus for over two hours the battle
ragged, and, owing to the vigilance of
the defending force, only the torpedo
boat Rodgers remained in action.
The decision as to the victor will come
from board of arbitration. appointed
to judge the battle by the points scored
by each individual ship. To this end an
umpire was aboard each craft, who made
note and credited to his ship each Win
ming point, and from these reports the
general decision will come. The de-
Tending squadron is generally believed to
be successful, for the reason that the
shore batteries and assisting squadron
repealed the attack. and left only one of
,, the hostile boats ailoat.
New York, Sept. 25.-The first United
States naval vessel to bear an Irish name,
the torpedo boat O'I3rien, was launched
at the Nixon shipyard in Elizabeth, N.
delphla, a direct descendant of the Rev
olutonary hero. for whom the boat was
named. chrstenad the new vessel. The
launching OF the O'Brien marks another
step in the colisummation of the govern
mcnt plan Of perpetuating the names Of
the more prominent figures in the Ameri
can revolution.
There We're five O'Brlen brothers.
OFF Machias, Me-, shortly after the battle
of Lexington, they captured the British
sloop of war Margaretta, after a stub
born engagement The townspeople had
erected a liberty pole in commemoration
of the victory at Lexington. and the
British authorities sent the sloop to
shell the town unless the pole was
Ievelled. The citizens decided to keep
the pole intact, and a lumber barge hay
ing been manned, about so men, armed
with pitchfcrks and muskets, with Jo-
scph O'Brien as leader, sailed down the
bay toward the British sloop of war on
Sunday. May II, 1775. Lieutenant Moore
the British commander. was at church,
but saw the lumber barge moving toWar
his vessel, and put off in rowboat for
his ship. He arrived just as the pa.
triots boarded the ship. In a hand-to-
hand fight Moore and 10 of his men were
killed, while five Of the patriots met with
like fate, but the sloOp was captured.
Miss O'Brien is the great grelt-grand-
daughter Of Joseph O'lIrien. to whom the
British commanders sword was pre-
sented after the battle. 4 feature Of tn.
launching was the exhibition of this
sword, which Is in possession of Miss
O'Brien's father.
The new torpedo boat is 175 feet long,
II feet beam, and is of 1O5 tons displace-
ment. She will carry n crew Of 60 Off
GERS and men.