The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-09-15

/ tongs. The Norfolk people also under.
! stood the situation, and some of Their
4 actually made preparations to follow the
vessels and see the fight. vi
4 1,he Garnet was built at Chatham In 1872
4 she was geo feet long and drew 10 fee,
Of water. Her armament consisted OF
twelve 64.pound muzzle leaders five
broat1side guns and chaser In stern
and bow. In addition 70 these, were
four Notyienfeldt guns. tour barrels eacFi
and two "Gardners." Tho ship was also
armed With 900 eech.loading rifles. Her
| tonnuge was 900 and she carried 231 men.
The strelok was built IN st. Petersburg
IN 1880 She was 214 feet long and drew
141h feet OF water. Her tonnage was 1858
and she carried $50 man and twelve
breech-loadcrs Of modern construction.
She also had a torpedo equipment Her
armament was far superior to that OF
the Garnet, and she was a much faster
vessel In fight she could easily have
kept Beyond the reach Of the ,Garnets
guns and yet have pelted her ANTAGONIST
with her long range rifle guns. Captain
Skrydloff the commander, had disun-
guisl1ed himself IN the Turko- Ru ssian
war by blowing up two OF the Turkish
men -of-wnr in the Danube. He went
over to tho vessel under cover Of night
and placed some explosive material under
the hull. made an electrical comn,unlca-
ton Herewith. and blew the vessel sky
high. For his gallantry he was pro-
noted to the position OF commander in
tho navy.
While the vessels were IN pot an indus
trious newspaper man In New York wrote
several articles about them, and the
English vessel finally dropped down to
Old Point for tho purpose, as Captain
Hand afterwards explained, Of getting rid
OF tho ''benstly reporter" Captain Hand
thought that in that position he could
watch the Russian vessel as well ms he
could in the Norfolk harbor, but in that
he was mistaken, as the sequel shows.
"A night or so after the Garnets depar-
ture Captain Skrydloff and his staff at
tended an entertainment at the Norfolk
Academy Of Music The Captain chatted
pleasantly with some Of his lady ac-
suuantances and seemed as snnconcernled
as though he had no scheme IN mind;
but suddenly, in the midst Of the enter
tainment, he arose, passed BY his com
panions, tapping each one OF them on
the shoulder as he moved along. and IN
a moment they were up and gone. IN
the meantime he had engaged a well
known pilot, Captain w II. Face Of the
Virginia Pilots Association, to take the
vessel out of port Captain Face agreed
to be at the wheel early the next morn
Ing, but Captain skrydloff was unwilling
to take such chances, and finally pre-
vailed upon the pilot to go on board and
remain overnight. Captain Face had just
begun to make himself comfortable when.
to his surprise. he found that the vessel
was under way He went on deck and
was soon ushered Into the pilot house,
He observed that there were no lights on
the vessel, and refused to take the wheel.
but the Russian commander ordered him
to do so, and he dared not disobey.
Captain Skrydloff was In a good humor,
however. and laughed heartily at the
pilots dilemma, declaring In his broken
English that ct was so funny Every
inch of the ships canvas was run UP,
and with stiff breeze and the engines
going at their full capacity. she made
rapid Roadway
AS the strelok neared Old Point much
anxiety was manifested by the officers,
lest the Garnet should be on the alert and
ready to give chase. but the officers on
the Garnet were taken unawares, and
perhaps never even saw the Strelok as
she passed. When well out Of reach Of
the Garnet the officers Of the strelok
held a carnival Of glee and gave every
evidence of their delight 20, pelot," said
Captain Skrydloff, as he slapped CAPTAIN
Face on the back at is SO funny" BY
AS the Strelol1 passed out into the broad
Atlantic, md when six miles from shore
discharged the pilot, although 1t was
fortunate That one OF the pilot boats was
near by. otherwise Captain Face would
have made sea voyage without his con-.
sent. Captain Face told the story the
next day to many of his admirers. 1T
was a clear case Of Kidnapping" he said,
"the way those fellows got me on board;
but the whole thing was one OF the clev-
crest bits of strategy ever knew"
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The Wisconsin Middle.
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