The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-02-05

|
 of which the Meteor was one, being the
 only representative of the German navy ! in the South Atlantic. The other three
 ships were soon closely blockaded, one
 at Fayal and two in Japanese ports, but | the little Meteor managed to evade the | vigilance of the French souadrons and ! to keep the freedom of the sea until November z, when she ran into the har-
 Dor of Havana and found there at an-
 chor the French dispatch boat Bouvet
 whose path she had frequently crossed
 during her cruises in Caribbean waters.
 The Meteor had hardly come to anchor
 when the French mail steamer Nou-
 veau Monde started outbound for
 Havre, and the Meteor slipped her
 moorings and started in pursuit Of the
 Morro, however, the Frenchman, seeing
 that he was pursued put back and both
 vessels returned to port, where Captain
 Franguet of the BouYet, incensed at the
 German ssaudacious attempt to capture
 the Nouveau Monde right under his
 nose delivered a challenge to Com
 mander Kumor of the Meteor to meet
 him three marine miles off shore and
 fight it out to a finish. The challenge
 was instantly accepted and the news
 was greeted with cheers by the crew of
 the Meteor, the rest of the day being de-
 voted to preparations for the combat,
 The Bouvet at once went to sea, to
 await off the harbor the expiration of
 the tWenty-four hours which according
 to international agreement must elapSe
 between the departure of vessels of bel
 ligerent nations from a neutral port.
 Captain General De Rodas was official
 ly informed of the impending duel and
 signifed his intention of going out to
 the battle-ground accompanied by the
 Spanish fleet, to see that neutrality was
 not infringed and, if necessary, to ex- tend aid to the wounded.
 The two vessels were pretty evenly
 matched, being of almost exactly the same displacement While the Bouvet carried five guns to the Meteors three, the latter were of heavier calibre. The
 Bouvet, which ranked as a dispatch boat had somewhat the advantage in speed of the Meteor, which was classed as a first-class gunboat. Both were bark rigged screw steamers, carrying a considerable sail spread. The Meteor had but sixty officers and men in her crew, as against eighty carried by the French vessel. Both were wooden ships, and, of course, cared no armor protection.
 About noon on November the twen- ty-four hours time was up, and the Meteor steamed out past Morro Castle in search of her antagonist. Escorting her was the Spanish flagship Hernando sy- q and a host of Spanish naval and militia ry officers on board, and a squadron of Spanish gunboats. A fleet of excursion vessels had been chartered to go out and witness the fight, but at the last this was forbidden by the cap tain- general. The heights of the Nor row and the roofs of all the houses along the ocean front were thronged with people who, with the aid of glass; es, were enabled to witness the combat | at distance of several miles.
 Soon after leaving the harbor he | Bouvet was sighted far to the north | ward and was soon seen to turn and | head for the Meteor. When three miles | off shore Captain General de Rodas sig naled to the captain of the Meteor that | he was beyond the neutral line, and | could begin the combat as soon as he | came within range. The ships contin- | ued to approach each other rapidly un- til, when about five miles distant from the coast they were only about quar- | ter of a. mile apart. Then the Bouvet | began the action by firing five shots in | rapid succession, none of which, how aver, took serious effect The Meteor | with her less numerous but | heavier battery, and soon both vessels were enveloped in smoke clouds. The sea was perfectly calm, and the wind too light to clear away the smoke, so hat both combatants continued for half m hour to fire almost at random.
 Suddenly through the smoke cloud he Bouvet 1oomed up close alongside he Meteor. Captain Franguet had de- ,ided to take advantage of the superior strength of his crew by laying his enc ny aboard and "carrying" her in the good old fashioned way with cutlass, ike and boarding ax Commander Ku- nor had barely time to pipe all hands O repel boarders when the Bouvet | rashed into him. Unluckily for the callant Frenchman, whose men were all dong the rail ready to leap upon the J 1erman's deck, the shock of the colli-
 ion was so great that it brought down lis main and mizzen masts by the run md the tangle of wreckage hanging yer the side made boarding impossible. While the ships were in this position a ucky shot from the Meteor went trough the Bouvet's boiler, completely I disabling her and she would undoubt- dly have been forced to surrender had | not been that some of her own fallen l igging fouled the screw of the Meteor, her also completely helpless. 'aptain Franguet finally got clear and eeing no chance of successfully con- inuing the combat in his disabled con- ition hoisted sail on his forennast and ! eaded for the harbor. both vessels ontinuing to fire at each other while he Germans made frantic efforts to lear their screw and if possible head if the enemy's retreat They had just f ucceeded in getting under way and ! ere steaming toward the Bouvet when \ ne latter reached the neutral line, and |
 gun from the Spanish flagship gave ' -arning that the combat must cease. ! pparently none the worse for her en- il 1unter, the Meteor steamed trium- hantly into Havana, passing on the ! -aY the BOuVet which was lowed in bV | f